Of Loving A New Soul
by DangerTaylor
Summary: Second Installment in The Loving Series: Caroline is entering her last semester at the University of Richmond and for many reasons her life is just about to begin. With Sage and Finn gone to Europe and Elizabeth dead from a werewolf bite, Caroline and Nik anxiously await their approaching nuptials. Klaus' inquiry is answered and he and his bride set out to start a family. AU
1. Spring

**Chapter One: Spring**

The morning after Klaus bit Elizabeth, he made sure to watch her mind deteriorate from the venom taking over her system. He crept into her subconscious and forced nightmares on her up until her very last breath, for that moment he showed her Sage and Finn standing happily together. Just when Elizabeth thought he was showing her mercy, Sage spoke, _"I picked Finn over you because our love is worth more than you life."_

Klaus watched the woman scream out in physical and emotional pain and was only satisfied when her keeling noises stopped, her veins turned black and then her body became grey. Picking up his phone he dialed one of his wolves.

"Come pick up the body and make sure it gets to its proper destination."

He knew that Finn and Sage were going to their home in Germany and was sending Elizabeth's body to them. Firstly he wanted it to be a reminder of the treaty that they had agreed to and secondly so that Sage could lay her sister to rest. He wanted his sister-in-law to feel the guilt of Elizabeth's death so she knew not to betray him again.

* * *

Caroline had been so busy with school that she didn't realize what day it was until Nik entered their bedroom with a bouquet of English roses. She put down her research article and smiled up at him from the middle of the bed. "Hey, babe. What's the occasion?"

Klaus' dimpled smile fell. "It's Valentines Day. We were supposed to go out tonight."

An uneasy expression crossed Caroline's face as she flipped through her date book. These days if she didn't write something down it either never happened or she would forget it. She had basically moved in with Nik after they returned from Paris but rarely left the house because of the amount of schoolwork that she was undertaking.

"I am so sorry Nik. I forgot. If you give me an hour I can be ready."

He just gave her a half smile and nodded his head. "I'll just go put these in some water then."

Caroline felt horrible. She hopped off the bed and grabbed his arm before he could exit the room. When he turned his body to hers, she reached out and fingered one of the flowers. They really were beautiful a mixture of dark and light pink with white blooms as well. She brought her nose down and inhaled the sweet scent. "Thank you for the flowers. I love them." She spoke and then raised her eyes to his. "I love you."

Klaus knew that he couldn't be too upset with how busy she had been because she was doing it for them. He had to remind himself often that she wasn't being distant, she was just finishing school so they could really start their new life together.

He kissed her soft lips and then walked down stairs to find a vase.

* * *

"Where would you like to go for spring break, love?"

After their talk at Valentines Day Caroline had been trying to spend more time with Nik, so now they were both down in his study. She was lying on the couch with her feet in his lap and her face in a book. Peering over the top of her text she watched him absent-mindedly run his fingers along her calf as he looked at his new canvas.

Finally resting the book on her chest she gave him her full attention. "I hadn't really thought about it. I have three midterms after the break and then papers starting to be due the week after that." She really did feel bad that school was taking up so much of her time and many times she just wanted to quit, thinking that there would be plenty of time for college after she was turned.

When Nik turned his head to look at her, she sat up and crossed her legs under herself. "I'm sorry. You know that I would love to go somewhere, but I just can't right now. We can go on an extra long honeymoon to make up for it."

Klaus couldn't resist when she smiled sweetly at him and talked about the upcoming wedding. "I understand sweetheart and I don't tell you this enough, but I am very proud of you."

Caroline bit her lip. "I'm at a point where I can take a break, if you would like me to show you how much I appreciate your patience." She slid off the couch on to her knees and crawled the few feet to rest between his legs. Looking up at him through her lashes she worked at his belt buckle as he just stared down at her.

He had used his mouth to pleasure her many times but she had never tired to reciprocate. He thought that she didn't like the idea of it so he never brought it up. But now with her pulling at the waist of his jeans he was about to burst with anticipation. He lifted his hips to help her drag his pants and boxers down around his ankles.

"Relax." She said placing her hand on his chest and pushing him to sit back on the couch. She skimmed her hands up his thighs and then up his length. Wrapping her hand around him and pumping her fist once before slightly squeezing the tip she smirked as he closed his eyes and moaned her name.

Klaus was enjoying the feeling of her hot little hand on him when he felt something slick run up the base of him causing his eyes to shoot open. He looked just in time to see her swirl her tongue around the head of his cock before she took him into her mouth. He went slack jaw at the intense feeling.

Caroline worked him with her lips and hand, unable to fit all of him in her mouth. She was enjoying how vocal he was being with the pleasure she was giving him but she couldn't suppress her own moan when he sunk his fingers in to her hair and started to guide her movements.

He was buried deep in the back of her throat when she moaned around him and he hissed out a curse. It had been too long since they last made love and he was not going to last long if she keeps up this pressure and tempo. Gripping her hair tighter she started to move faster and deeper.

She could tell he was close because he was panting and sputtering out stings of incoherent words. He was not longer lounging on the couch, but had curled his body around her bobbing head. His hold on her hair was almost to the point of being painful, but she didn't want to stop now. As soon as Caroline felt his body go ridged, she took him as far back in her throat as she could and then he released.

Slowly untangling his hands from her hair he felt her mouth slide up him and free him with a playful pop. Klaus had an awed look on his face and Caroline was just satisfied with herself.

"Lord Caroline. That was unlike anything…" He couldn't even complete his thought while trying to control his breathing. He had to be the luckiest man alive to have a woman like Caroline.

* * *

A few weeks later during spring break, Rebekah has physically removed Caroline from her studies and carried her into her room. Both Elena and Bonnie where sitting on the bed with dozens of wedding magazines spread out.

"I don't have time for this guys. I need to get that paper done before the week is over." Caroline started to walk back towards the door.

Bekah blocked the door. "You are getting married in six months. You have to start on all this stuff. Did you realize you haven't even told your mother that you are engaged?"

Caroline tried to think back on all the short one-sided conversations she had with her mom in the past few months and then looked at her friends shocked. "Oh man. She is going to be pissed! I promise I will tell her tonight." She walked over and sat on the bed next to Bonnie as Rebekah joined them as well.

Within a few hours she had picked out her colors, flowers, centerpieces, and cake. To honor Nik she went with an English garden and tea party theme.

Elena picked up a magazine of colorful dresses and handed it to Caroline. She looked down at the pages and then it dawned on her. She hadn't asked any of the girls to stand up with her.

"You will have to forgive me. I've been so busy that I completely spaced. I would be totally honored if all three of you would be my bridesmaids."

They all squealed in unison as Rebekah said. "I know of the perfect bridesmaid dress. I'll have them sent in from New York so we can try them on for you."

Caroline smiled on the outside but she was freaking out on the inside. All this planning was making it very real for her now and she never thought she would be married at twenty-one. She told her friends that she was going to go call her mom and walked back to Nik's room.

Liz was in her office at the station when her person cell phone rang. Shuffling around some papers she finally found it and was able to pick up before it went to voicemail. "Hey sweetie. How are things in Richmond?"

"Hi mom. Things are well, just keeping busy with school." There was a pause on the line and Caroline took in a deep breath. "I was actually calling to tell you some good news."

A thousand different scenarios ran through Liz's mind before she asked outright. "Well don't keep me waiting, what is it?"

"Nik and I are engaged." More silence on the phone made Caroline worry. "You still there mom?"

Liz had to physically shake herself. "Yeah, I'm here. Just surprised. You two haven't been together that long."

Caroline knew that would be one of her mother's objections. "I know, but we just feel it, to our very cores, that we belong together."

Knowing there was no reasoning with her daughter and being able to see the love they shared at Christmas, Liz decided to just be supportive and happy for her little girl. "Well then I'm very excited for you. Have you picked a date yet?"

"Yeah, September 1st."

"Of this year? Isn't that soon?"

Caroline giggled into the phone. "I thought you were excited mom. Yes of this year. I've been taking extra classes so I can finish my degree early."

"No wonder you have sounded so tired." Liz started to think that this was all happening very fast. "Are you pregnant?"

"No mom! Why do young people have to be pregnant to get married?" She ranted.

Liz knew that she taught her daughter to be safe when it came to sexual relationships. "Sorry, that wasn't right for me to assume. What can I do to help?"

Caroline always knew that she wanted to be married in Mystic Falls. It was the only home she ever really knew and it was just, home. "Can you call Pastor Weeks, reserve the church and then talk to the Mayor about us using the property for the reception?" The gardens and stately manor where the Mayor lived would be the perfect backdrop to her wedding.

"Sure sweetie. I'll call you later on in the week to let you know how it turns out." Liz started to feel herself tear up. "Congratulations Caroline. You have found a lovely young man to spend your life with.

Hearing the shakiness of her mother's voice, Caroline felt a lump in her throat. "Thanks mom. I love you."

"Love you too Care Bear."

They ended the call and Caroline couldn't wait to tell Nik about the progress she had made today with the planning of their wedding. She also had to find time to talk with Bonnie privately and ask her to be the maid of honor.

* * *

In late April Klaus heard back from Annabelle, the witch that had helped them in Paris and she had found something. He arranged for her to travel to America to meet with him the next week. He didn't want to mention the meeting to Caroline yet. She was so focused on her finals that he didn't want to distract her.

He personally went to the airport to pick up the witch. "Annabelle, my dear. Welcome to America. I have a car waiting."

They made idle chit-chat on the way to the house and he showed her to the guest room. "Please get settled. We can talk over supper."

The witch thanked him for his hospitality and stated to unpack her things before getting cleaned up for dinner.

Klaus had set up an informal dining space in his study so that they could talk privately. Elijah knew that he was thinking about children, but none of the siblings knew he was actively seeking a way to make it possible.

"How do you like your lobster?" He asked.

Taking a sip of wine and looking over at the hybrid, Annabelle smiled. "It is perfect. Nothing can top French cuisine, but it is lovely." She took another drink from her glass then she stated. "I'm guessing that you would like to get down to business."

Leaning back in his chair and putting his cloth napkin on the table he nodded.

Mimicking his actions, Annabelle set down her wine glass. "I have consulted with all of my texts and even connected with my ancestors to see if they could help. At first they didn't want to help because of what you are, but I spoke very highly of the young lady that has captured your heart and changed you.

What I found is that there is an elixir that can be made to suppress your vampire genes long enough for a viable fertilization to happen." This was the good part of the theory, but once he heard what was would need to make the spell work, he would not be so happy.

"To make the elixir you need blood from a descendent of the original blood source that was used to turn you and magic from the descendent of the witch that cast the spell."

Annabelle waited for him to rant and rave about having to go on a wild goose chase looking for these two people so that he could have the spell done, but he just smiled wider and this made the witch uneasy.

Picking up his wine glass he took a sip and spoke. "No need to look so tense. Those two things are closer then you may think." Klaus set down his glass and pulled his phone out of his pocket before typing away a text to Elena and Bonnie.

Dessert was brought and Annabelle was still waiting to see what he had up his sleeve. It seemed that as soon as their plates were cleared two women came busting in to the office.

"What's going on? What is wrong with Caroline?" Bonnie spoke first, before taking in the stranger sitting with Klaus.

He motioned for all of them to move to the seating area. "Caroline is fine, I just needed your help with something that may effect both of you in the future."

Annabelle still looked confused as she sat in a chair next to Klaus but opposite of the two women.

"Introduction, yes. Ladies, this is Annabelle. She is a witch from Paris and her family has been close to ours for centuries. Annabelle, this is Elena, the doppelganger and also Elijah's girlfriend and this is Bonnie Bennett, who is also dating Kol."

Understanding washed over the witch's face. He had both descendents all along, and they were with his brothers. Would the world soon be filled with half human, half vampire children?

"How does us knowing another witch effect our future?" Elena spoke.

Leaning forward in his chair Klaus hoped they would agree. "Well, Caroline and I have been talking for a while about the possibility of us starting a family."

"That's impossible." Bonnie cut in.

Slightly annoyed at the interruption he just continued. "I sent word out to a few of my witches to try to find a way for this to happen and Annabelle thinks she has a solution."

"So if this works for you, it could work for Elijah and I?" Elena asked.

"That is the idea. But I need both of you for it to work and I hope that you will, for the love that you have for Caroline and the love that you could have for your children."

Bonnie spoke now. "What do you need us for?"

Klaus turned to Annabelle and she sat up straight. "Since Caroline and well you ladies, are human, conceiving isn't an issue for you. So we have to trick the vampire bodies into thinking they are human as well.

You will need to mix Elena's blood with Ashwagandha root and Fo-ti root, then the mixture will need to be spelled by Bonnie. The elixir will have to be ingested by the vampire and will only stay in effect for a week, so make sure that week counts." She winked at Klaus. "It will be like any other human couple trying to get pregnant, it may not take on the first time."

Elena was playing with a strand of her hair and then looked up at Annabelle. "What about Bekah?"

The question startled Klaus. He had never thought about the possibility of his sister wanting this. When they were human she would talk about falling in love, being taken away from father and their little village and having a family of her own. Now he was also looking at Annabelle for answers.

"I would have to check a few things, but I guess it would work the same way, but she would have to take the elixir every week of her pregnancy."

Bonnie had been relatively quiet during the discussion. She had not thought about having children, let alone with Kol but if this is what Caroline wanted she would help. Also she was excited about working with another witch besides her grandmother. "I'll do it."

Everyone turned to Elena. "You won't have to bite me will you?"

"No dear." Annabelle answered for Klaus. "The volume that is needed for this would require you to donate. If this is something that all of you want at some point, then I would suggest stock piling bags of your blood for the purpose."

Elena didn't really like needles, but if it meant the happiness of Caroline and maybe one day having children with Elijah, she would have walked through fire. "When can we start?" She said with a smile.

Klaus got up from his seat and rushed over to the girls, picking them both up in a hug. "Thank you." Was all his whispered before setting them back down.

Bonnie and Elena were both surprised by his action but understood how much this must mean to him. "I'm looking forward to working with you Annabelle." Bonnie said politely.

"I am too Ms. Bennett. I never had any children so it will be nice to pass on my wisdom."

Already on his phone, Klaus turned to the group. "I will arrange for a nurse to come in once a week and draw your blood Elena. If that is okay, of course."

Elena just smiled and nodded her head, more excited about talking to Elijah about this than anything else.

* * *

"Nik! Where are you?" Caroline yelled out while walking in to the front door. She heard him call from the study and she ran to him and threw herself into his arms.

He caught her and kissed her smiling lips. "What is this all about?"

"I took my last exam today, which means that I have two weeks of freedom!"

Klaus set her down on her feet and walked behind his large canvas. "I'm so proud of you." He said walking back out with a bunch of flowers, the same flowers that she had picked for their wedding.

"How did you know?" She asked taking the flower and burying her face into the bouquet of peonies, English roses and lily of the valley.

He stood behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist, placing a sweet kiss on her neck. "I may have snuck a look at the wedding notebook that Rebekah has. The day will be beautiful." Klaus held her for a moment longer just enjoying finally having her in his arms.

"I need to shower. Care to join me?" Caroline said over her shoulder.

She was being lifted in his arms before she could blink twice and he was carrying her towards the stairs. The flowers were set on the dresser before he walked both of them into the bathroom.

Laughing while removing her shirt she teased him. "Aren't you just a little eager?"

Growling low he was already standing there naked with the shower running. "It was been _weeks_ Caroline. Can you blame me?"

Her laughter died down as she realized how much she had been neglecting their relationship. "I'm sorry Nik..."

"Enough talking." He cut her off and lifted her in to the shower with her bottoms still on and attacked her lips with his. About a week ago he considered trying to have sex with her while she was sleeping, but decided against it because that would most likely had made her mad. He wanted nothing more then to be intimately connected to her right now, so he pulled at her soaked jean shorts and ran his hands over her wet body.

He spun Caroline around and took her hard and fast against the shower wall. His lips, tongue and teeth assaulted her neck as his arms snaked around her torso, one hand grabbing on to her breast the other on her hip. He was spurred on by her loud moans and he thruster harder causing her to cry out.

Tightening his grip on her and as his climax washed over him he sunk his teeth in to her exposed neck. Before he could take too much from her he pulled away, wiping his mouth and smearing blood over his chin.

"I'm sorry Caroline. I didn't mean to, it just, I couldn't stop myself." He had never taken blood from her without her permission. He stood on the other side of the shower from her and looked ashamed.

Turing around she moved her body under the spray and watched the mix of blood and water stream down between her breasts. "It's okay Nik. You just surprised me. Now come here and heal me already."

Klaus quickly closed the gap between them and offered his already bleeding palm to her. Caroline took only a few ounces from him before she pulled away and turned off the water. She dried off and dressed for bed, Klaus following behind her, but not speaking.

"Stop moping please. It's not becoming of you and you have nothing to be feeling guilty about. It had been a while and you just got carried away. I'm not hurt and I'm not upset." She pulled back the covers on the bed and propped herself up on the pillows.

Still angry with himself, Klaus got into bed as well but put on a more relaxed face. He thought that maybe telling her some good news would make him feel better. He rolled over to face his beautiful blonde and stroked her cheek before running his fingers through her hair.

"Annabelle came for a visit a few weeks ago."

Caroline's eyebrows came together in confusion. She recognized the name but couldn't place it. Then she remembered Paris. "The witch? What did you need her for?"

Thinking about what he was about to tell her, Klaus couldn't help the smile that crept across his face. "She found a way for us to have a baby."

"Seriously?" She asked excitedly and sat up.

Klaus followed her movements and knelt in front of Caroline. "Yes, my love. There is an enchanted elixir that makes it possible. The child in my dreams, in my paintings, can be ours."

Caroline launched herself in to his arms and hugged him at tightly as she could. The hugging led to kissing, which led to deeper kissing and then to slower, softer passionate love making.

* * *

**AN: Leave me some love. :)**


	2. NYC With The Girls

**Chapter Two: NYC With The Girls**

"I don't even know why we are discussing this, since you apparently already have made your choice."

Elena folded her arms over her chest and stood across the room looking at Elijah as he poured himself a drink. "Yes, I made the choice to help Caroline and Nik, what I am trying to discuss with you is us!"

Stopping mid-drink Elijah looked at Elena over the top of his glass. He swallowed thickly and walked to stand in front of her. "What about us?"

Feeling nervous, she uncrossed her arms and started to fidget with the hem of her shirt. "Well, you know, I was just thinking about _our_ future."

"Oh."

For someone who seemed to always have something to say, Elijah was very quiet. "What kind of future do you see for us?" Elena asked.

Elijah knew that it was normal for women to start to questions their own relationships once one of their friends got engaged, but he was still not ready for this type of talk. "Do we need to do this now Elena?"

"I guess not." She said narrowing her eyes and walking for the door. Elijah caught her by the elbow before she could touch the handle and she turned on him. "Let me go. I'm going home."

Elena and Elijah still kept much of their lives separate. They spent much of their free time together and some nights, but Elena still stayed mostly at the home that now just her and Bonnie shared.

Elijah didn't want her to leave while angry with him, but he also didn't have a solid answer for her. "Elena, I'm sorry. I love you but I just don't know what to tell you."

Pulling her elbow from his grip she fought back tears. "You could just tell me that I'm another passing phase like the last two doppelgangers."

He was shocked and frozen in his place by her words. They had spoken about his relationships with Tatia and Katerina, but he had never told her why the affairs ended. Racing after her, he was able to grab her before she reached the door and moved them both in to the sitting room.

Elijah captured her face between his hands and looked directly into her eyes. "You are not just a phase Elena and you are nothing like your ancestors." He was trying to express with his gaze that he was telling the truth.

"But I look just like them and if you loved them like you said you did, why are you not still with them? How can I not think that our relationship will end like those if you can't talk about our future?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to find the words to make her understand. "Yes, doppelgangers look alike, but you all have very different personalities. Both Tatia and Katerina were petty, selfish, treacherous women." Elijah finally looked at Elena as her features started to soften. He cupped her cheek and spoke. "You, my dear, are loving, compassionate, and generous.

As for your second concern, my relationship with Tatia ended because she was used as a sacrifice when my mother turned us and Katerina was killed breaking Niklaus' hybrid curse." When he saw fear appear on her face he pulled her in to an embrace. "I won't let anything happen you Elena."

She nodded in to his chest. This is the most detailed Elijah had been when talking about his past loves and she felt horrible for him, that both women had been killed.

Pulling back to look at Elena's face again he kissed her and tried once more the reassure her. "I know that with Nik and Caroline moving forward it makes you wonder about us. Just know that I love you and do want a future with you, I just don't know what that all entails yet." Taking her hand in his, he started to lead her back towards the staircase. "Let's go back up stairs. You can pick out a movie and you can tell me more about your meeting with Annabelle."

* * *

Caroline rolled over in bed, reaching out to find Nik but his side of the bed was cold. She sat up and looked around the room before seeing a line of light from under that bathroom door. She walked in to the en suite to find him brushing his teeth. She laughed from the doorway. "I would hate to be the dentist to work on you."

Klaus turned his head and smiled at her. "That is what compulsion is for." He winked at her before dropping his fangs and brushing them as well.

This only made Caroline laugh harder. "What do you have planned today?"

"The nurse is coming over in about an hour to do the first blood draw on Elena." He wiped his face with a towel before walking towards the door and kissing his woman.

Enjoying the kiss but needing to get ready, she squeezed out of his grip and walked towards the shower. "I didn't know we were starting that yet."

"Well since classes are done, Elena and I thought that now would be good incase she is a fainter. This way she has a few weeks to get used to it before she has to resume normal function." He watched her undress but resisted the urge to take her in the shower again when he remembered how he lost control last night.

Caroline smirked at him before stepping in to the glass enclosure. "Can you go make some breakfast? I'm sure Elena would like to eat something beforehand."

Admiring her thoughtfulness he dressed for the day and went down to the kitchen where Elena and Elijah were already sitting drinking coffee. "Good morning. Caroline has suggested that you have something to eat before the nurse gets here. What can I make you?"

"Pancakes?" Elena said looking up from her coffee mug. "You know, cause the sugar in the syrup will be good for me."

Klaus nodded in understanding and noticed the tension between his brother and the petite brunette but did not mention anything about it, just got out the items needed to make breakfast.

Right when Klaus was pulling a second batch of pancakes off the griddle, Caroline walked in to the kitchen and helped herself to a plate. She sat down next to her friend at the table and gave her a large smile. "Thank you for doing this for us Elena. Nik told me about it last night." She reached over and took her friend's hand. "I can't tell you how much this means to us."

"It wasn't even a question for me. I just knew that I had to do this for you…well for all of us." Elena let her eyes shift to Elijah and quickly back to her friend.

Caroline caught the look and her smile grew. "You guys too! That would be so wonderful, our children growing up together." Elena's face scrunched up and she slightly frowned as Elijah excused himself from the table and walked out of the kitchen. "What did I say?" Caroline questioned the reason for his quick exit.

"Eli and I haven't really agreed on that topic yet." Elena said and Caroline gave her hand a squeeze. "I mean, you know me Care, I love kids and family and all of that, but I think he just needs some time to adjust to the thought of it all. He's spent the last thousand years thinking that it wasn't a possibility, you know?"

Giving her friend a sympatric smile, Caroline went back to her breakfast when the chimes for the front door started to ring. "I'll get that." Klaus said from the sink. The girls had completely forgot he was in the room during their conversation.

They heard Nik talking with the nurse in the foyer and Caroline shoved the last bit of pancake in her mouth as her and Elena got up and moved towards the voices. They walked out into the main hall to see Klaus ushering a young woman into his study. Followed behind and watching the woman start to pull items out of her plastic case, they waited to be introduced.

"Ms. Jayne this is Elena who will be having her blood drawn and this is my fiancé Caroline." Klaus said extending his hand to each girl as he spoke their names.

The nurse, who seemed to be just a few years older than themselves, stood and walked towards the girls. She shook hands with them and then asked Elena to come and get comfortable in the sitting area. Caroline sat down next to her friend on the couch and held her hand for support.

Klaus had not hunted in a few days and didn't want to be in the room when they started to draw the blood so he walked to the door to take his leave. "I am going to run to the store with Elijah, call me if you need anything."

He walked from the room and when to find his brother. He really did want to go out with his brother, but for the purpose of drinking and discussing the awkward situation in the kitchen this morning.

Elena watched the nurse start to put on latex gloves and she gripped Caroline's hand tighter. "Um, Ms. Jayne…" Caroline spoke.

"Please call me Emma." The nurse said with a smile.

"Okay, Emma. My friend is not too fond of needles, so if you could sort of, help her through it that would be great."

Emma just nodded and wiped the crook of Elena's arm with an alcohol swab. "I think it is wonderful what you are doing here. Helping out your friend like this."

"You do?" Elena asked with a questioning face and turned to Caroline wondering if the nurse knew the real reason behind the blood draw. "Ouch!"

Right when the brunette turned to look at her friend, Emma used that distraction to insert the sixteen-gauge needle in to her vein. "Yeah, hemoglobin H disease is so rare and it is amazing that you both turned out to be AB-. It's wonderful that you are willing to donate for your friend's transfusions."

Both girls just nodded their heads and smiled down at nurse Emma. They only wished that they had been filled in on the cover story before being stuck in a room for an hour with the nurse. "I know, we were all very upset when we found out about the illness." Elena said with concern.

All three of them looked up when the large oak double doors of the office were slammed open thirty minutes later. Rebekah was standing there looking very excited. "I have something awesome planned!" She stepped further into the room and then slapped her hand over her mouth, as she smelled the blood and her fangs dropped.

Bekah conveyed with her eyes that she was sorry she couldn't stay and rushed from the room closing the doors behind her. Caroline smiled at a still stunned Emma. "She has a weak stomach when it comes to blood." She explained.

"Happens all the time." Emma said as she took the needle out of Elena's arm and taped a cotton ball over the puncture point. "You should drink something with sugar in it and make sure to take it easy if you start to feel light headed."

Klaus walked in to the room and took the blood bag from the nurse, thanking her for her time and scheduling for her to come again next week. Caroline walked Elena in to the kitchen to get her something to drink and Rebekah popped her head in. "Is it safe?"

Elena laughed and held up her arm. "Yep. All patched up."

Bekah came and sat at the table with them. "What is going on? Why were you having your blood drawn? Gift for Elijah?"

Caroline chuckled and Elena blushed. "No, but I think I will let Caroline tell you about this one." With that she got up with her juice box and went to find Elijah.

Looking back to Caroline for some answers, Bekah flipped her straight blonde hair over her shoulder and waited. She was slightly annoyed because she was always the last one to know about things concerning the family. She hated feeling left out all the time, like a child that didn't have any say.

"For a while now Nik and I have been talking about what we want after marriage and the topic of us having a family came up."

"He has a family." Rebekah said with a frown and sat up straight in her chair.

Understanding her friend's concerns Caroline wanted to reassure her. "We are not trying to replace any of you or push you away. Bekah we just wanted to make this family bigger and happier and give all of you a chance at the same thing."

"What do you mean all of us?"

"I mean that Nik has found a way for us to have a child together and it could work for Elena or Bonnie if they want it. The spell involves Elena's blood, so Nik is building up a reserve of it."

Rebekah sat back in her chair with a long exhale, trying to process this information. "And me?"

"There is a strong possibility that it could work for you too, it would be more complicated of course, but it could work. Nik is having Annabelle look into it." Caroline smiled to herself as she watched Bekah get a longing far off look. "Now tell me what the exciting news you came bursting in to the study for."

Snapping herself out of the daydreams that she used to have when she was a little girl about having a family, Rebekah refocused on the blonde in front of her. "I'm taking you to New York to find your wedding dress." She stood and walked from the room so that she didn't have to take no for an answer.

"Why does my sister look so satisfied?" Klaus asked as he walked over to Caroline and kissed her on the lips.

"Looks like we're going to the Big Apple to find my dress."

"I'll call and have the apartment made ready."

* * *

"I don't really see why we have to take the private jet for such a short flight." Bonnie said looking out of the small window at the passing clouds.

Elijah chuckled from behind his magazine and shot a playful look at Kol. "Surprising enough, it is more cost effective for us to travel this way than on a commercial airline."

"I think I'm going to be sick." Matt said running for the lavatory.

Everyone looked at Rebekah and she just shrugged her shoulders. "It's his first time on an airplane and that last patch of turbulence that we hit didn't help."

The four vampires and their human counterparts were on the flight up to New York City for Caroline's dress shopping and Kol had a plan up his sleeve for the guys in the group. They were staying in the original's apartment in the Upper East Side, which Caroline had stayed in last October when Nik first brought her to the city.

The home was smaller than the one in Paris but still held five bedrooms on three floors. It was decorated in the same way as the other flat, the perfect blend of traditional and contemporary. Caroline had enjoyed it very much since it was only five blocks to Central Park and she was looking forward to seeing the city in the summer time.

A limo was waiting at the airport for them and the trip to the apartment was nerve-racking.

"I don't think I will ever get used to the crazy driving in New York." Caroline said gripping Nik's hand as the large vehicle weaved though traffic.

Bekah laughed. "That is why no one really has a car here and another reason I never learned how to drive." She shot an annoyed look at her brothers.

Since Caroline was familiar with the home she helped get the new guests settled. For people from a small town like Mystic Falls and even Richmond, seeing how the Miklaeson's lived could be rather shocking. She showed Elena, Bonnie and Matt all the common areas of the house and then pointed out their rooms.

Klaus's room was the only one on the first level, which also held the library and an office that he used for a studio. When they had first come here, Caroline was shocked he didn't have the master suite since he seemed to rule the family, but he said that the family switched off in the different homes around the world.

"We have reservations at six at the Boathouse in Central Park for dinner. It should be nice out tonight so we can walk, it's not too far." Bekah said to everyone lounging in the living room.

Caroline stifled a yawn. "I think I'm going to go lay down for a little bit then." She shot a look at Nik and he also got up from his seat to follow her down the stairs to their room.

"Are you not feeling well?" He asked with concern.

She removed her shoes and jeans. "No, just have not had time to catch up on sleep yet. Plus I have a feeling that I will have a _full_ day ahead of me tomorrow with Bekah and shopping. She is going crazy over this wedding planning stuff, but I am thankful to have her, because other wise we would be just be going to the court house."

It wasn't that she didn't want the large wedding with all the trimmings, but she was just so busy trying to finish school and so tired that she doubted she would have the energy to do half of what her friends had undertaken. She was able to ask Bonnie to be her maid of honor and her friend had graciously accepted and Elena and Bekah both understood Caroline's choice and were not offended.

"Thank you for including so much of my history into the wedding. From what I've heard of these events, it is mostly for the woman and the men are usually miserable."

Caroline laughed and crawled into bed. "Being miserable is not the right way to start off a marriage if you ask me. I just want you to feel comfortable and I want to give you somewhat of a normal human experience."

"Well if we were getting married like they did when I was human, then a village elder, coin, chickens, and most likely goats would be involved." He teased.

"I can get goats if that is what you like." Caroline held a serous face just long enough to play him at his own joke before she burst out laughing.

Klaus tackled her and pulled her close before kissing her. As they calmed down and he felt her drift off to sleep it gave him time to think about everything he needed to do. Her wedding band had arrived a few weeks ago and he had it locked away in his safe. The invitations were going out in a few weeks and he had to get his final list to the printer. He wasn't really sure how many of his acquaintances from the vampire world he could trust to be around so many humans that his family cared for.

Elijah was going to stand up with him, along with Kol and Charles his trusted werewolf. Bekah had been slightly upset that he didn't ask Matt, but Klaus wasn't familiar enough with the boy to ask for something so personal. He needed to remind his sister to take Caroline to the jeweler here to pick his band. He felt that his bride knew him enough to pick the perfect symbol of their love.

He heard someone come down the stairs and his brother whispered voice call his name from the other side of the bedroom door. Klaus untangled himself from Caroline, making sure not to wake her and walked out in to the hall. "Elijah, what is it?"

"Can we speak in private?"

Klaus nodded and led them to the library across the lobby and he sat in a large leather chair as Elijah poured them both a drink. Being handed his crystal tumbler, his brother sat down across from him.

"So you are really going through with all of this." Elijah swirled the amber liquid in his glass and looked at the floor.

A smile pulled at the corner of Klaus' mouth as he took a drink. He knew that his brother's issue was not with his choices, but Elijah has having trouble coming to terms with all the change that were going to happen this year. "What is on your mind brother?"

Elijah looked up at his brother and downed his drink before getting up to refill it. "You know that right before we were turned, Tatia and I were going to talk to father about consenting to us marrying."

"I had no idea, since she was still seeing both of us at the time."

Elijah snorted a laugh. "She was about to make her choice. We were making plans like you and Caroline are. We talked about moving away from the village, away from father, and raising cattle and a family. Especially after Henrik died, it made us think more about a life outside of that sad little place."

"You would have left us? Left Kol and Bekah with Mikael? How could you?" Klaus was upset. He had spent most of his human years protecting his younger siblings from Mikael and half of his vampire life keeping his family together and alive only to find out now that Elijah was about to leave them all behind.

Watching his brother stewing in his seat, Elijah sat back down. "I know now that it would have been the wrong choice, but back then it seemed like the only way out. What I'm trying to say is, for a thousand years I thought that I had lost any chances at that life with Tatia, but now there is Elena…and your new _solution_."

Klaus could not be too cross with Elijah because while he knew that Tatia was not his soul mate, he had also wanted the same things as his brother when they were human. If Caroline had been in that village, he would have left even without Mikael's consent, the only difference is that he would have found a way to take his siblings with him.

"Are you saying that you no longer desire that life?"

Elijah shrugged. "It is a different time and I am a different man, but I fear that Elena would grow to hate me if I didn't provide her with a family." He sighed as if the weight of the world was rested on him. "I wish I could be as certain as you are with the idea of this."

A hearty laugh filled the room. "Brother I thought you knew me better than that! I am terrified. This is what I wanted a long time ago and what Caroline desires, so I will roll with it and be happy to oblige." He got up and clasped his brother on the shoulder. "Just give it time. You will figure it out. Just remember to be open with her about it."

Elijah nodded his head and in a rare gesture hugged his brother.

"Alright mate, enough of that." Klaus said as he lightly pushed Elijah by the shoulders and held him at arms length. "Just think about Caroline and I as the trial run. Spend some time with your niece or nephew and if you feel you are cut out to be a father, you can try."

"You are so sure that the elixir will work." Elijah stated.

Klaus gripped his brother at the back of his neck and said with all seriousness. "It has to."

* * *

There was the sound of someone tapping a glass and everyone became quiet and looked in the direction of the sound. "I would like to propose a toast to Nik and Caroline on their engagement." Rebekah started. "Caroline we are so thankful that you came along and tamed our tenacious brother." Everyone chuckled including Klaus and Caroline blushed. "I was so excited when you became my friend but I will be over the moon happy when you are finally my sister."

Caroline wiped the tear from her eye and Bekah looked right at her and raised her glass. "To family."

Everyone one at the table followed Rebekah's lead, holding up their flutes and saying "To family." in unison.

The group was seated out on the patio of the restaurant, over looking the water of The Lake as the sun started to dip in the sky. Caroline was enjoying the impromptu engagement party with all of the people she cared about around but she felt bad that her mother was missing.

After hours of delicious food and superb champagne the eight of them walked back to the apartment and settled in for the night. "Make sure to rest up Caroline, we have a long day of shopping a head of us tomorrow." Bekah called over her shoulder with a giggle.

* * *

"Oh lord. What time is it?" Caroline rolled over to look at her phone and immediately missed the warmth of Nik's body. She was awake because of loud knocks and giggles at the door.

"Caroline I can hear that you are up. Come unlock the door." Bekah called out.

Groaning and pulling a pillow over her head she heard Nik chuckle to himself. "You know she won't go away until you go out there." He said from his side of the bed.

"You are such a traitor." She grumbled as she got out of bed and wrapped a robe around her naked body. Opening the bedroom door a crack she looked out into the hallway and saw the three girls standing out there. Rebekah pushed the door open the rest of the way and Caroline was grabbed.

The girls giggled as they walked her up the stairs to the spare bedroom. "Sorry, we couldn't have you sneaking back in to bed. Now go shower and dress in the clothes on the bed."

Dragging her feet, Caroline entered the room deciding to comply. Thirty minutes later she walked out in to the living area and Elena handed her a coffee and a muffin with a smile. "Let's go make you a bride."

They all walked down to the ground floor and out on to the street. Rebekah waved for a cab and the four girls slipped into the car. "Thirty-seventh and Eighth." She told the driver and they started heading south.

Multistory brick building lined the street and the three human girls followed Rebekah as she led them towards a bright orange door about half a block down. Up three flights of stairs and through a frosted glass door they entered a long room that was flooded with sunlight from the wall of windows that looked down on the street.

"Welcome to Blanc Couture. Do you have an appointment?" A pretty blonde woman asked form behind a dark oak desk.

Bekah stepped forward. "Yes, it's under Forbes and we should have two more joining us."

The receptionist looked over at her computer and nodded her head. "If you ladies would please follow me." She led them into the main show room of the shop.

"What is this Bekah?" Caroline whispered as they took a seat on a white leather sofa.

"Just a little shop that a friend of mine recommended. Oh, here he is now." Bekah got up and crossed the room, kissing the man on both cheeks. "Randy! Thank you for coming."

The girls stared in shock at the small well dressed man. "Is that?" Elena whispered to Bonnie.

"Yep."

Bekah walked back over to her friends. "I can tell by your faces that I don't need to introduce our guest."

"Which one of you beautiful ladies is Caroline?"

Raising her hand, Caroline was still looking in awe of the bridal fashion icon.

With an excited expression Randy extended his hand to Caroline and helped her up off the couch. "Let me see what I have to work with." He spun her around and looked at her slight figure. "When is your wedding?"

"September First."

"Oh, we don't have much time. Let's go shopping!" He led her towards a smaller room of to the side where racks and racks of beautiful gowns hung. "What is your budget?"

Caroline really didn't know. Nik and Bekah had told her not to worry about the cost of things. "I'm not sure." She then looked at her other blonde friend for help.

Bekah smiled and shrugged one shoulder.

"Alright, sky's the limit. Let's have some fun."

Caroline and Randy pulled a dozen dresses as the girls were served mimosas and fresh fruit in the lobby. "Show us one already Care!" Bonnie called from her seat.

The first one that she stepped out in was a full on ball gown with layers and layers of tulle. It had a corseted top with beads and crystals encrusting the bodice. Caroline stopped short and ran as carefully as she could across the room. "Mom! When did you get here?"

Liz stood up from the couch and hugged her daughter. She already was crying at the sight of her little girl in a wedding dress. "A mother should be with her daughter when she picks out her wedding dress, so Nik arranged for me to fly up for the day."

Caroline would have to thank him when she got home. This was beyond amazing and the gesture meant so much to her. She released her mother and stepped back, looking at her friends that all had knowing looks.

"I'm impressed that Elena was able to keep her mouth shut." Caroline said making everyone except the brunette laugh.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Oh, just shut up and give us a twirl."

Laughing again, Caroline did as she was told and showed her friends the back of the dress and looked in the mirror. "You know when you are a little girl, you dream about your wedding and being a princess. Well no one ever tells you how heavy princess dresses are!" Caroline shifted in the dress that was digging into her hips and rib cage.

Rebekah and Randy laughed and he led her back into the dressing room to try on the next one. The next eleven ended up on the reject pile. "I have an idea. How do you feel about a fit and flare?"

"Bring it on. You are the pro." Caroline said standing in her under garments.

She stepped in to a Lazaro lace and organza gown with a strapless sweetheart neckline. It came with a lace bolero shrug and a cream colored sash that tied around her waist.

Once it was zipped up and she turned around to see herself in the mirror, she just felt it. Caroline walked out to her friends and mother and already had tears in her eyes.

"Sweetie, you are so beautiful." Liz said with tears in her own eyes.

Looking at her friends, Caroline saw that Bonnie and Elena were sniffling messes and Bekah had the biggest smile on her face. "I think this is the one guys." She said as she turned towards the mirrors to take in all angles of the dress. "Can I get the sash in a light blush pink though?"

Walking in with a headpiece that had silk flowers, feathers and a birdcage veil, Randy pinned it to the top Caroline's blonde head. "I'm sure that won't be an issue."

"That goes perfectly with the English garden theme. We could ask all the ladies to wear hats, like at the royal wedding." Bonnie said excitedly.

Everyone got off the sofa and went to hug Caroline as Randy told the shop owner which dress to order. "Let's go get you out of the dress so you ladies can be on your way. I was told there is a special lunch planned for you at Lady Mendl's tea room."

Caroline smiled one last time at her friends and walked back with Randy to put back on her regular clothes. "Thank you so much for your help today Randy. I never thought in a million years that you would be the one helping me into my wedding dress."

"Rebekah is a dear friend and I am always willing to help a beautiful woman like yourself, become a fabulous bride." He gave her a friendly hug and returned the dress to its hanger. "I will be in touch for your fitting."

"Thank you again." She said before going and joining everyone in the lobby. The group walked down to the street and took a cab to Seventeenth Street and Irving Place where a quant restaurant was situated on the bottom floor of a small Inn. It reminded Caroline of the tearoom her and Nik had visited while in Paris.

Once seated on a plush banquet she pulled out her phone. "Can you take a picture of mom and I?" She asked Bonnie.

"Sure." Bonnie took that phone and counted to three before saying 'cheese' and snapping the picture. Handing the phone back to her friend she smiled at the waitress who came around to set china teacups and saucers in front of each lady.

Caroline sent the picture to Nik.

_Thank you for this amazing gift. It meant so much to me to have my mom with me today. You are an amazing man and I love you so much. –Caroline _

Looking up from her phone she smiled at Bonnie who seemed to be holding in a big secret. Questioning her friend with her eyes, finally Bonnie popped. "Welcome to your bridal shower!"

* * *

**AN: Next chapter is NYC With The Boys and we can see what Kol has planned. The two ladies who answered my Tumblr post will have their names in next chapter. Our nurse Emma was named after the first review of this story! **

**Also check out my Tumblr for pictures of Caroline's dress. In total JoMo fashion I will start calling my readers "Lovelies". **

**So my Lovelies, leave me some reviews to let me know what you think. **


	3. NYC With The Boys

**Chapter Three: NYC With The Boys**

The table was littered with tea and cakes, treys of cookies and finger sandwiches, and flutes of pink champagne. Caroline was having a splendid time with her friends and mother. They were all laughing over stories from when the girls were little, remembering a time of youth and innocence.

Rebekah smiled and clapped her hands excitedly when a cart was wheeled out with brightly wrapped packages on it. "Gifts are here!"

"You guys thought of everything didn't you?" Caroline said finishing the mini cake she had in her hand.

Elena took a sip of tea and said. "Well of course. We all love you and wanted to make this special. Anyways you only get married once, might as well make the most of it."

Opening the first box from Elena and Elijah revealed some barely there lace number that made Caroline's cheeks flame red.

"Don't blush on my account, just wait until you see what I got you." Liz remarked, earning a laugh from everyone around the table.

With caution Caroline took the gift from her mother and opened it, eatable underwear and massage oils. Great. "Thanks mom…" she said as her pink cheeks darken.

They spent another hour at the tea shop and then with all the bridal gifts packed away in the truck of a taxi, the women headed back to the apartment. Liz was to fly out the next day to go back home for she was only able to get a few days off of work.

"What do the guys have planned tonight?" Liz asked right before shock covered her face when they pulled up in front of the apartment.

Caroline patted her mom's hand and chuckled. "You get used to the extravagance." When Liz just nodded, Caroline continued. "I don't know what they are up to. I haven't talked to Nik at all today."

Just as the words left her mouth, her handsome fiancé stepped out of the front door to welcome the girls home. Caroline was out of the taxi and in his arms faster than he thought her human legs could carry her.

"Miss me?" He laughed, kissing her eager lips.

"Just a little. But I had a wonderful day, your sister is too much."

Still smiling at his love, he released his hold on her just as his future mother-in-law approached the front door. "Liz. Welcome to our home. Please come in, your bag was delivered here this morning." He held out his hand for her and led her into the entry.

Caroline snickered to herself at his gentleman like behavior. She watched Nik, still holding her mother's hand, take Liz up the grand staircase to the guest room on the second floor. "If you ladies would like to get cleaned up, we are going out to dinner in about an hour."

Liz commented on how beautiful the home was and then slipped into her room to get cleaned up from her travels and the day out in the city. This was her first time in New York and while she knew that it wouldn't last long, she hoped in the future she could spend more time here with Caroline and Nik.

Kol took this opportunity to pull Matt to the side. "You ready for a fun night with your future brothers?"

Matt's eyes got big and then he stammered. "Brothers? Beks and I are…not sure if we are…at that point yet."

Clasping the human on the back, Kol laughed. "Calm down. Just wanted to warn you that we are throwing Nik a bachelor party tonight, so you are rolling out with vamps and it could get a little crazy." Kol winked and left Matt with still wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

Klaus found Caroline down in their room going through the bag of bridal gifts and he snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle. Kissing her shoulder, he peered down at the bag full of lace and smiled. "I have a feeling that I will like these gifts."

Caroline turned in his arms and faced him. "How come they seem to be more for your enjoyment than mine?"

"Oh, you will enjoy them as much as I will. Trust me." He dipped his head and pressed her lips to his. She deepened it and their tongues played while her hands made their way into his hair. Nik's hand found their way to her rear, lifted her and her legs wrapped around his hips.

Walking them towards the bathroom he set her on the countertop before breaking the kiss and pulling off her top. "How was dress shopping?" He said as he placed open mouth kisses down her chest.

Caroline's head was thrown back, enjoying the feeling of him playing her body. "Amazing. You will love it." She grabbed his hair again and pulled his face to hers.

Kissing her again, he found the clasp on her bra and let the fabric fall slack on her shoulders. Caroline shrugged off the garment and pulled at the hem of his shirt. Complying, he lifted his arms and allowed the V-neck shirt to be discarded. Her hands were exploring the tight plain of his chest and loved the feel of his muscle covered ribs under her fingers.

At the same time, they started working at each other's pants and soon his were around his ankles and he was pulling the skin tight jeans from her creamy legs. Within seconds he was back on her again, kissing between her breasts and pulling her to the edge of the countertop.

Without warned he dropped to his knees and buried his face between her thighs. Caroline bit her lip to avoid crying out.

"Don't do that my love." He said from his current position. He smirked before licking along her slit. "My room is sound proof." He grinned again as she realized what he was saying.

The next time he put his mouth on her she let out a deep, loud moan as she gripped one hand in his hair and the other on the marble countertop. Her back was against the cold mirror and she watched his sandy blonde curls work between her legs.

Every once in a while he would glance up at her through his lashes and see the almost pained expression on her beautiful face as her body coiled tightly under his mouth. She was gasping for breath and mewing his name and if he didn't have total control over his body, he would have lost it when she pulled his hair to the point of it being painful and climaxed right before his eyes.

Caroline was so beautiful like this. In his thousand years he had never seen anything, man made or from nature that was as gorgeous as his love when she let her self go in the throws of pleasure.

With her body limp and still shaking from his light touch, he kissed her before walking across the room to turn on the shower. Going back and lifting her off the counter where she was still panting with her eyes closed, he placed them under the warm spray as she started to come down from her bliss.

Being in his arms as the warm steam surrounded them was perfect. Caroline had never felt so loved in her life and she knew that the decision to marry Nik was the right one. Finally opening her eyes and looked up at him she smiled as droplets of water fell from his hair on to her face.

Still feeling his arousal pressed against her hip, she placed her hands on his chest and lightly pushed him backwards towards the stone bench. He smiled and sat down, taking a moment to adjust to the cold marble under him.

Caroline straddled his thighs and pressed her wet chest to his. "This reminds me of the first night we were together." She said kissing him.

"I have had a fondness for showers ever since that night." His lips twisted up into a smirk under hers and he pulled her closer to him. "The significance of our wedding date has not escaped me, my love. It will be a year since that first night."

She smiled and hummed in agreement when her lips were back on his. She rolled her hips, rubbing her wet core against him and he moaned into their kiss and gripped her tighter. Holding on to her hips, he lifted her and his head feel back against the tile wall as she slowly sank down onto him.

This connection was intimate and slow. They felt like the only two people in the world and the rush of water was the only sound around them, aside from their moans and whispers of pleasure.

Klaus felt her body start to tense again and helped her move in a way that would make her fall over the edge of ecstasy. He was finally able to follow her and he buried himself deep in her as he released and looked upon her satisfied face. This was a beautiful moment for the both them and love flowed between them like it was the most natural occurrence in the universe.

Not needing to exchange any words, they washed themselves and stepped out of the shower, being enveloped in towels and walking out to the bedroom.

Lying on the bed with their feet dangling off the side Caroline turned to Nik and twisted one of his curls around her finger. "I want to start trying in a few months."

"Trying what darling?"

She released his curl and placed her palm on his cheek. "To get pregnant."

Klaus didn't expect her to want to try so quickly and while he was very excited about the whole thing, he was also still a little terrified about becoming a father. "That's wonderful." He said sitting up and lifting her to sit sideways in his lap. "Whenever you are ready I will call Annabelle back over and she can work with Bonnie to get everything ready. I thought you said that you didn't want to be pregnant during the wedding."

Caroline kissed his furrowed brow. "If it takes the first time, then I will only be two months along and not showing. I just want to start this life with you, and the longer we wait, the longer I will need to be human."

He understood now. She was worried about the time it will take before she can be changed. She was still young and he didn't feel that she needed to be turned right away. Plus what if they wanted more than one child. His mind stalled at the thought of a whole brood of blonde children running around. Blinking out of his daydream he hugged her close.

"I will keep you safe for as long as you are human, and beyond that. Nothing will even happen to you or our family."

Caroline released the breath that she was holding and kissed his neck before replacing her head on his shoulder. "Thank you."

A knock came at the door and Caroline got up to see who it was. Cracking the door, she saw Elijah standing in the hall.

"The car will be around in twenty minutes to take us to dinner." Elijah said while trying not to look at Caroline's towel clad body.

Caroline looked down at herself and hid further behind the door before nodding at Elijah and closing the door. Turning back toward Nik she said. "I thought you said the room was sound proof. Elijah was practically blushing."

Rubbing the back of his neck Klaus fessed up. "Um, it is sound proof to humans. Sorry dear, only spelled rooms can totally obstruct a vampires hearing."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. She would never get used to the invasion of privacy. "Well you heard him, go get ready." She walked towards the closet and picked out a red wrap dress and simple black heels.

After they both dressed and Caroline fixed her hair and make up, Klaus heard voices out in the foyer and linked arms with Caroline, leading her out of their bedroom to meet up with the group.

"Are we all ready to go?" Bekah asked as she checked her hair in the mirror by the door.

The group of nine stepped out the double doors and got into the black limo that was waiting on the street. They headed south on Second Avenue and then crossed the Williamsburg Bridge. Just before entering East Williamsburg, they turned on Morgan Avenue and stopped in front of Roberta's.

They were sat at a large table at the rear of the restaurant and a waitress came around to bring drinks. The atmosphere was casual, with large wooden tables, mismatched chairs and old brick walls. The establishment grew their own vegetables and herbs on a rooftop garden and boasted to have some of the best pizza in the city.

Drinks arrived in glass goblets and mason jars while freshly baked bread and salads were placed on the table. They ordered four pizzas before Liz stood and raised her glass.

"I just wanted to say thank you to Nik for bringing me here to be with my daughter on such an important day. After being here with you all, I realize that I am not just gaining a son with this union, but a whole other family. I guess I just wanted to say, thank you for welcoming me into your family as well."

Everyone cheered Liz's speech and drank. It was so nice for the whole family to be together without the threat of any harm hanging over their heads. Nik was sure that Finn and Sage would hold up their end of the treaty and he was just looking forward to the next chapter in his life with Caroline.

"So what are you girls going to do tonight while us guys are out?" Kol asked popping a piece of bread in his mouth.

Caroline placed her glass back on the table and looked at Kol confused. "Where are you going?"

Kol smirked at her. "Nik didn't tell you? His bachelor party is going down tonight."

"Oh is it?" Caroline said looking right at Nik.

He adjusted the collar on his shirt and he noticed Liz laugh from across the table. "Uh, yeah, you know just drinks out with the guys."

Caroline looked at Kol for conformation. "Yeah, what he said." Kol was able to get out between chuckles.

She dug her nails into Nik's thigh and whispered so her mother couldn't hear. "I may not be able to hurt you, but I can make your life hell, so you better behave."

Bekah snorted but disguised it as a cough. Elijah looked worried and Kol just kept smiling.

Caroline trusted Nik but didn't want them to get in to any trouble. So she released his thigh and the food was brought out to the table. They enjoyed the meal and the girls filled Liz in on the wedding plans and Liz confirmed that the church and Mayor's manor were reserved for the service and reception.

After everyone had their fill, the ladies were escorted back out to the limo that took them back to the apartment as the guys caught a taxi to their next destination.

"So where are we going Kol?" Klaus asked.

Turning around in his seat next to the driver he answered with a large smile. "We are going to Meredith's place."

Elijah's eyes went wide. "You do realize that we have a human with us?"

Matt looked scared. "Look, I don't want to cause any trouble. I can go back to the apartment…"

"Matt will be fine." Kol said to Elijah and then turned to Matt. "Don't worry, once it is known that you are with us, no harm will come to you. Just keep an open mind."

They crossed back over the East River and Kol instructed the driver to take them to Fifth Avenue and West Thirty-Sixth. He then took out his phone and seemed to be sending a text.

The cab pulled up in front of a club called 1574 and the four guys got out. They stood on the sidewalk for a few moments as Kol pulled his phone out again.

"Shouldn't we get in line?" Matt asked, pointing to a line of over a hundred people.

Kol just held up his finger, indicating for Matt to wait a moment as he still focused on his phone. He looked up with a smile and faced the door.

"Why you little devil. It has been too long!" A statuesque woman walked out of the front door; pass the bouncer and embrased Kol. She had long strawberry blonde hair and was dressed in a white pantsuit.

Holding the woman at arms length Kol took her in. "Meredith, you haven't changed at all since I last saw you."

"Of course, a hundred years is nothing to the immortal." The woman smiled.

Someone behind the couple cleared their throat. Kol turned. "My apologies. You remember my brothers, Elijah and Niklaus…"

Meredith inhaled deeply. "And you brought a human."

"Yes, this is my sister's boyfriend, Matt. He is not to be altered."

"Understood. Please, you are all welcome to enjoy my establishment." Meredith approached the velvet rope and the large man at the door let her and the four men pass.

She led them to a lounge area with deep red walls and black velvet furniture. Matt noticed the way she moved resembled a cat stalking it's prey. "Is everyone in here a vampire?" He asked Elijah in a low voice.

"No, but all the humans are compelled to forget anything out of the ordinary that may happen here." Meredith answered as she sat down on a plush couch. "Do not worry Matthew, since you already know the secret, your mind stays intact." She stated when she saw his concern.

Matt nodded as sat down between Klaus and Elijah. Kol was sitting by Meredith as the woman waved over a waitress. She ordered a round of drinks and told the girl that she would exclusively wait on this group for the night.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" She asked as she sipped at her martini glass filled with thick red liquid.

Kol downed a shot of bourbon and answered. "Niklaus is getting married in a few months. This is his stag party."

The woman was shocked. She had been around for a long time; the club was named after the year she was turned, so she knew of Niklaus' reputation. "Then I offer my congratulations your Grace. Who is the lucky immortal?"

"Her name is Caroline, and she is human." Klaus spoke for the first time since entering the club.

Again Meredith was surprised. "Oh, well she is surely fortunate to have such a noble gentleman at her side."

Klaus raised his glass to the woman as a sign of respect and acceptance of her kind words. They both drank and the she vamp rose from her seat.

"I have other guests to attend to, but Eva will bring you anything you desire." She winked at Kol. "I will also send over a special _treat_ for the betrothed."

The waitress came back round with fresh glasses, an expensive bottle of whiskey and a crystal decanter of blood. She bowed and said, "Your Grace, my Lords, if you need anything, please just ask."

Matt poured himself another drink. "Is it always like this for you guys, with the titles and all?"

Elijah crossed his legs and looked out over the dance floor of the club as he sipped blood from his tumbler. "Only from people that have been around since the time of our lordship in England and France. It is just a sign of respect for the original family."

Downing his drink, Matt thought about Kol's comment from earlier about being part of the family. He loved Bekah and had accepted what she is, but still didn't know what he wanted for their future. She lived in a different world than everyone else, he just didn't know if there was a place for him in the supernatural.

"Ah, the entertainment has arrived." Kol said getting up from his seat and greeting the young woman. "She smells amazing." He said as he turned towards Nik.

The human woman had short black hair and was wearing white lace undergarments with a tulle and lace over coat. Her bare legs were long and smooth and the absent of shoes made her movement quiet and effortless. She glided over to Klaus and stood in front of him. "I am at your Grace's disposal to do with as you please." She bent and kissed his day light ring.

Matt chuckled from behind his shot glass. With the effects of the alcohol already setting in, he found all of this pomp and circumstance humorous. He also could not deny the attractiveness of the woman and while he loved Beks, what man didn't enjoy a stripper?

"What is your name child?" Elijah asked.

The woman bowed at the eldest. "Richa, my Lord. May I refill your drink?"

When he held out his glass, she bent over for the bottle and showed her lace thong to Matt who almost spit his mouth full of liquid all over the girl.

"I think I may be more entertained by poor Matt's reactions tonight than by our lady of the night." Kol laughed from his chair. He noticed a few women on the dance floor who kept looking over at the group and he waved them over.

Both girls had long mahogany hair and once they got closer, Kol could see they were twins. "Please, ladies come join our party." He said as he held back the red curtain that separated them from the other private areas. "What are your names?"

The girls exchanged looks and finally one answered. "I am Megan and this is my sister Camilla. You are the original family right?"

Kol was taken back for a moment and drowning out the music in the room he was only able to discern one human heart beat. He became on alert and his eyes darkened. "Explain yourselves." He demanded.

The girl that spoke before stepped in front of her sister in a protective motion. "I was turned a year ago, my sister chose differently. My mistress has spoken of your family often."

"Who is your maker?" Klaus asked standing next to his brother, his eyes turning yellow.

"Mistress Joanna. She says she served you during your time in the highlands of England." Megan said.

Both brothers' faces relaxed at the mention of their dear friend who they had not seen for over three hundred years. "Please come join us and tell us how our Joanna is doing these days."

Megan sat by Kol while Klaus asked Richa to fetch them drinks. Camilla went and took a seat next to Matt, feeling intimidated by the famous vampires, she wanted another human between her and the other men. "What are you doing hanging around with this lot?" She asked.

Matt set his glass down on the table. "I'm dating their sister."

"You are _with_ a vampire? Aren't you scared she will…_eat _you?"

He laughed until he saw she was being serious. "It took a little effort to get used to the idea of what she is, but I fell in love with her before I knew. She is still the same wonderful woman no matter what, and I trust her."

"How is your mistress occupying herself?" Elijah asked towards Megan.

Taking a drink of blood from her glass she swallowed before answering. "She runs an estate just north of the border in Quebec. I am here visiting my sister and trying to convince her to join me."

"Twin vamps, you would make a man very happy indeed." Kol said looking at the human sister talking with Matt.

Megan placed her hand on his upper thigh. "A man like you, perhaps?"

Kol grabbed her wrist and placed her hand back in her lap. "I am already promised to someone who could hurt us both. All of my brothers are spoken for so this is merely social. Understood?"

"Yes. Please accept my apologies, no harm was intended." She knew that the original family could easily put her and her sister to death if they so pleased and she did not want to disappoint her mistress by offending the Mikaelsons'.

Removing the glass from Megan's hand, Kol smiled. "No harm done. Would you care to dance?"

"Of course." She answered, took his extended hand and followed him out to the dance floor.

With Kol dancing with Megan, Matt distracted by Camilla and Elijah focused on his phone, most likely texting Elena, Nik was left to his own devices. He lounged on the sofa and sipped the amber liquid that warmed his insides.

"Would you like a drink?" Richa asked kneeling beside Klaus.

He showed her that his glass was full and looked back out on to the dance floor.

She pulled at the ribbon that was holding her over coat together and slipped the sheer material from her body. "That is not what I meant." She said as she moved to straddle his lap and exposed her neck to him.

He growled low in his throat as her pulse quickened. He had not had blood from the vein in over a week and it was almost impossible for him to resist. The skin under his eyes darkened as his fangs dropped.

Klaus couldn't be brutal with her in such a public place, but it was also hard to make such intimate feeding non-sexual. He would always be true to Caroline, but seduction was in his nature.

Wrapping his arms around the woman's lower back, he brought her body closer to his and ran his nose up her neck, taking in her scent. Looking back in to Richa's eyes he compelled her. "You will not scream."

He placed his mouth back on her neck and tore into the pale skin. Her blood was sweet, intoxicating. He knew now why Meredith kept Richa around, she was like the finest vintage at the bar. Klaus drank from her slowly as the warm liquid coated his tongue and throat.

Releasing her neck he watched her neck heal. Looking up at her for an explanation she just smiled.

"I drink vampire blood before every shift for fast healing and also incase a client gets too…_greedy_."

Klaus smirked at her and his eyes darkened again as he bit into her left breast, pulling blood from the supple flesh. Richa moaned and grinded her core into his lap. He could smell her arousal and quickly removed his mouth from her.

"You are food, nothing more." He stated with malice wrapping one of his hands around her throat.

He heard a gasp to his left and looked over to see Matt and Camilla both staring at him. Klaus guessed that Matt had never seen Bekah feed before. She should have prepared him better for this life.

Looking back at Richa who was still in his lap, he saw that she wasn't afraid of him, rather she was enjoying herself. She reached out her hand and dragged a finger through the blood on his lips. Rubbing the blood on her own lips she spoke. "Taste me."

Still holding on to her neck he started to pull her face towards his. The aroma of the blood that stained her skin, white lace bra, and lips consumed him. Richa's hot breath smelled of her blood and he was drawn to it.

"Niklaus!"

Baring his fangs, he turned towards the voice. Feeling animalist he would fight for his meal and not share with anyone else. Elijah was looking at him with horror and within seconds the red haze was leaving his vision.

Realizing what he was about to do, Klaus pushed the woman off his lap and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. Between the pale skin and white lace, Richa looked like she was laid out before him for the taking and if not for the love of Caroline he would have not hesitated ravishing the potential succubus.

"Thank you for your company. You will no longer be needed." Elijah said politely as the woman picked herself off the floor and retreated her over coat.

Before she left them she stood in front of Klaus, dipping her finger into the blood that was on her breast and touching it to his lips. "Pity. I have heard stories about you..." She licked her lips and looked down into his lap, "…your cock is infamous."

Meredith appeared from behind the curtain just as Klaus stood and raised his hand to strike Richa. "Is there a problem, Niklaus?"

"You need to keep the help in check. Teach this one that she should be seen and not heard." He lowered his hand and sat back down, pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes at the human woman before taking a large gulp from his drink.

The she vamp grabbed the Richa's arm roughly and pulled her from the room. "She will be reprimanded for her indigestions." Meredith bowed and exited the area.

Still brooding, Klaus poured whiskey into two glasses, handing one to Elijah and keeping the other for himself. "Thank you brother. I would never hurt Caroline, but that woman's blood was intoxicating."

"She did smell very…enticing." Elijah said from his seat across the table, looking slightly ashamed at the admission.

Finishing his drink Klaus rose from his seat. "I think it is time that we head home. Let's go collect Kol and Matthew."

Some time during the feeding, Matt and Camilla had left the VIP area and went to the bar, both feeling uncomfortable with the situation.

Finding the two men was easy because Klaus was able to pick up on their scents. Kol thanked Megan for her company and promised that they would visit Joanna soon. Meredith found them before they left and thanked them for their patronage.

Piling into a cab, Kol sat next to Klaus. "How did Richa treat you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Kol's brow furrowed. "I can smell her blood on you, among other _scents_. Should I be concerned for your life when Caroline finds out?"

"I fed, that is all. Now drop it Kol."

Raising his hands in defeat the youngest turned to look out of the window and watch the city rush past them.

Once home Klaus went straight to the bathroom to wash any remaining evidence of the night off of him. He rested his head against the cold tile wall as the water steamed down his bare back. He had come so close to doing something he would regret for the rest of his life. It could have been as easy as never telling Caroline about it, but the lie would eat away at him for eternity.

Drying off he could no longer smell any of Richa on him and after pulling on a pair of sleep pants he slid in behind a sleeping Caroline. Burying his face in her blonde curls, he just wanted to be overtaken by her scent, the only one that would truly call to him.

* * *

**AN: Thank you to all my peeps on Tumblr for lending my your names for this chapter. Also to Joanna for all the support and kind words on Twitter. You're awesome!**

**I love my readers and love my reviewers more. Leave me a line. Find me on Twitter and Tumblr. **


	4. The Etruria

**Chapter Four: The Etruria**

"Morning sleepy head." Caroline said in a singsong voice and ran her fingers through his messy hair.

Klaus groaned and opened one eye to look at her. The sunlight from the windows caused her blonde hair to glow. She is an angel. And he is a repulsive monster.

Moving in closer to him, she placed a kiss on his forehead. "Oh, come on. Don't play human on me. You don't get hung over."

He wrapped his arms tight around her and pulled her in close. He rested his head on her chest and listened to her heartbeat. Guilt from his actions last night were eating away at his resolve. He mentally berated himself and burrowed his head further into her bosom and some of the curls that fell over her shoulder.

"What's wrong Nik?"

Without answering, he rolled over and checked the time on his watch that sat on the bedside table. Rubbing his hands over his face he finally spoke. "Let's get your mother to the air port and then we need to talk about something."

Sitting up in bed she held a stern expression while in her mind thoughts ran from him leaving her to a confession of killing half the city. "What happened?" She questioned.

She was angry, he could see that plainly. But he also saw fear. "I just need to tell you about last night." He tried to reach out and stroke her cheek but she recoiled from him.

"Are you leaving me?"

"Caroline, I will be with you for as long as you will have me. I just hope for your forgiveness."

She was about to retort and demand that he tell her now, but her phone beeped with a new message. Turning to silence it, she noticed it was from her mother. Liz's flight left in under two hours, so they needed to get ready and head out.

Not looking back at Nik she walked to the bathroom to get ready for the day. He left her alone, quickly dressed and went up to the kitchen. Elijah was in his normal seat at the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.

"So you are going to tell her." Elijah stated, having heard the conversation.

Nik sat down next to him and toyed with an apple from the basket on the countertop. "I have to. When we got back together in November, we promised no more lies, no more secrets. It would kill me to keep this from her."

Elijah just nodded before going back to is paper. "For everyone's sake I hope that she is merciful."

Liz walked out of her room with the small carry-on bag that she brought and greeted the two men in the kitchen. "Good morning. Is Caroline awake yet?"

"She should be up any second now." Klaus said.

Caroline came trotting up the stairs in a pair of navy shorts and a white top. She also wore a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She was faking it for her mother's benefit.

"We ready?" She called to the group.

Liz nodded at her daughter and Klaus grabbed the luggage that had been set on the kitchen counter. They walked down to the street and hailed a cab.

The ride to LaGuardia was awkward to say the least. Caroline sat in the middle of Nik and her mom, but never turned to face him. She just kept idle conversation going with Liz. Klaus had the good sense to keep quiet until they were alone.

Pulling up to the curb at the airport, they all exited the car. Liz thanked Klaus again for his hospitality and flying her to the city. Ever the polite gentleman, he gave her a quick hug and then slid back into the cab to give the women privacy.

"Did I miss something?" Liz questioned.

Caroline tried to put on her most innocent smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Placing a hand on her hip, she gave her daughter 'the mom' look. "I know you better than that, but if you don't want to tell me now that is fine. Just know that if you need me, I am only a phone call away."

The tears that she had tried to hold back all morning finally started to fill her eyes. "Thank you mom, for everything. I really needed you to be there yesterday. And if this afternoon goes south, I'll give you a call." They hugged and exchanged goodbyes as Liz turned to leave.

Caroline waved as she watched her mom walk through the glass doors of the airport. Wiping her face and collecting herself for a moment she then turned around and got back into the cab. Nik must have already given the driver direction because the car just merged back in to traffic and drove south, before heading back in to the city.

They were dropped off on State Street and walked into Battery Park. Klaus followed a pace behind Caroline as she walked down the concrete path further into the park.

She stopped in front of The Sphere. The brass colored mangled metal structure used to sit in the courtyard between the World Trade Center towers but was now housed in the park. Caroline could feel him standing a few feet back from her as she studied the sculpture.

"So talk." She simply stated.

He took a step towards her, hoping that she would turn, but her back remained to him. "Last night we went to a bar owned by a friend of Kol's. We were given a private lounge as well as a few girls to wait on us." He paused waiting for her to say something. When she didn't he continued.

"One was our waitress and the other was…the entertainment and on the menu."

"Did you kill her?"

Klaus sucked in a breath just hearing her voice. "No. But I did feed from her and it became…intimate."

Caroline rounded on him with a mix of fury and sorrow in her eyes. "Did you…have sex with her?"

Not being able to stand the tension anymore he closed the distance between them and took her face in his hands. "No, my love. I could never. But she was practically naked on my lap and the blood was so… _sucré. _I got carried away and almost kissed her." Caroline took a step back from him and her eyes went wide. "But Elijah stopped me before anything could happen."

Anger crossed her face again. "Oh, Elijah stopped you. Great. So if he were not there, what would have happened Nik? Did you only stop because of Elijah, or was it because you are fucking engaged!"

He was taken back. Caroline hardly cursed outside of the bedroom and he had never seen her so angry. "I'm sorry. I know I'm horrible and I will do anything to prove my love and faithfulness to only you."

"How could you do that? I would never even consider it." She was crying now and her body hung in defeat.

Klaus touched her forearm and led her to a bench across the walk. "I have no excuse for myself Caroline. I was overcome with blood lust and the seduction of the feed. I lost myself for just a moment."

Twisting the ring around her finger she didn't raise her eyes. "Did it even cross your mind in that _moment_ that you could have _lost_ me?"

He took a beat to process what she was saying. He had messed up just by letting the situation with Richa go too far, and she was saying that if he ever were unfaithful she would leave him. He couldn't have that.

Moving from the bench, he knelt in front of her and grabber her left hand, running his own thumb over her ring. "You have my word. Nothing like that will ever happen again, not in the eternity that I plan to spend with you."

Caroline was quiet for a long while before standing and without waiting for Klaus started walking towards the water. Getting in line for the Liberty Island ferry finally he caught up with her.

"Where are you going Caroline? If you don't want to be around me, at least let me get someone to go with you." After what happened in Paris, he didn't want her wondering around a strange city alone.

"I never said I didn't want to be around you. I just need something to do while I try to decide if I should forgive you." She stated plainly without turning to look at him.

They had not seen the Statue of Liberty when they were in New York last year so it was something Caroline wanted to explore this time around and could easily busy herself there and on Ellis Island.

Klaus was quiet the entire time. Allowing her work out her thoughts but was just grateful that she had let him stay with her. She walked around the island, reading the plaques and taking pictures. At one point she asked a stranger to take a picture of them together.

"Smile, but don't talk." Caroline said under her breath as she wrapped an arm around Nik's waist.

She wasn't ready to talk to him yet, mostly because she didn't know what to say. She was angry with him, but didn't these kind of indiscretions happened all the time at bachelor parties? At lease he had been honest with her about it. And nothing had _really_ happened.

So what was worse, that something _almost_ happened and he was honest, or that something worst _could_ have happened and then him lie about it? Neither sat well with her, but she didn't want to stay mad at him for long, she couldn't.

They caught the next ferry over to Ellis Island and again Klaus followed a pace behind her as they entered the beautiful historic building.

Caroline took in the vastness of the main lobby of the intake building and she wondered off to the left side of the structure to explore the museum. She looked at the black and white photographs of the old ships and immigrants that passed through the island. She found Nik looking at one displays across the room.

"Tell me a story."

It was the first time she had directly spoke to him in over two hours. He was slightly surprised by her voice and without turning his body away from the display, he looked at her. She didn't meet his gaze, just continued focusing on the ship in front of them.

"It was the summer of 1906, my family and I were living in London but knew we needed to move on soon. It had been a few hundred years since we had been to America, so we decided to come back and check on things where we grew up. We sailed on that ship, The Etruria, from Liverpool to New York. The trip took us just over six days and was nothing like travel in this time. But we did pass through this building once we got here."

Caroline finally looked over at him. "Couldn't you have just compelled your way past immigration?"

Klaus shrugged his shoulders. "Could have. But back then, immigration was a big deal and we also like leaving our little marks on history. Come with me?" He formed it as a question so not to seem as he was ordering her around.

She followed, and they walked up to one of the many computers kiosks that were scattered around the museum. Nik typed in some information and then an image of and old yellowed ship manifest came up on the screen.

"Where is Kol's name?" Caroline asked, just seeing Nik, Bekah, and Elijah's.

Shifting uncomfortably on his feet Klaus thought of the best way to answer her. "He was cargo at the time."

When she looked at him confused he knew he would need to expand his answer.

"Do you remember hearing Sage talk about me holding Finn?"

Caroline nodded, remembering some of the crazed woman's ranting.

"Well, I have daggers that allow an original vampire to mimic death, but will reawaken once it is removed. It has been used as a sort of 'time out' for when my siblings have gotten out of hand."

"Have you ever been…put in time out?"

Klaus laughed to himself. "No, it is more of a punishment that I bestow on others."

Caroline looked disappointed. "So whenever they would do something you didn't like, you would what? Kill them for a few years…is this what I can expect too?"

"The daggers wouldn't work on you sweetheart." He said like it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard, completely lost her meaning.

She huffed out a breath. "No. What I meant was, what gives you the right to pass judgment on them? Who are you to hand out punishments? How will you _deal_ with me when you don't approve of my behavior?"

Klaus was silenced by her comment and just stared at her slack jawed.

"Maybe I should have you daggered for a while for punishment of _your_ disgraceful actions last night."

A smile started to slowly spread across his face as Caroline's temper grew as well. "I am perfectly serious." She threatened.

"Oh, I do not doubt it love. And I am glad that I am so fond of you, for any other person making that threat would be dead before they hit the floor." He leaded over and kissed her on the forehead as she stiffened and then relaxed slightly with a large exhale.

"I don't know what to do with you."

He pulled back from her and took both her hands in his, again running his thumb over her engagement ring. "Believe that I will never do anything like that again. I made a mistake, and I will forever be sorry for it. And excuse the horrible cliché, but I'm not perfect…I'm only _human_."

Caroline gave him a small smile and swatted him on the arm. "You are not _human_ and up until this afternoon I thought you were perfect, but I can see now that you are as conflicted as the rest of us mortal beings."

"You have no idea. But you made me believe that I can be a better man, for you I have tried…and will continue." Klaus cupped her face in his hands and locked eyes with her.

She nodded and allowed him to gently kiss her before someone in the room cleared their throat. They broke apart and saw a middle aged woman with her young child walking around looking at the exhibits.

"Let's go home." Caroline said, taking his hand and leading them towards the exit.

They had to wait fifteen minutes for the next ferry, but were back in the city and in a taxi heading home within the hour. They were quiet, but Klaus was just happy that she had allowed him to hold her hand the whole way.

Caroline walked up the stairs to the second floor to grab a drink from the kitchen and Klaus ran up after her once he heard her scream.

"What is it?" He asked in a panic.

Looking around the room for any danger he saw Kol grabbing for a blanket as Bonnie sat on his lap.

"Really, Kol? In the living room?"

Covering Bonnie, who had her head buried in his chest, he responded with a lazy grin. "We assumed we had the house to ourselves. The others all went out for dinner and we hadn't heard from you two all day. Now if you don't mind, could you advert your eyes while me and my lady find a more private location?"

Caroline, who had her hand over her eyes, turned and trotted back down the stairs without hesitation and Klaus followed.

Once in their room she spoke. "I have seen a lot of Bonnie, but I never thought I wanted to see _that_."

"Kol has no decency. I'm sure if it were up to him, he would have just kept on going."

Her face screwed up in disgust and shivered at the mental image. "Can we just watch a movie and order in tonight? I don't think I want to leave the room again."

Klaus agreed. Caroline went to take a shower as he ordered in Chinese food and brought down a selection of DVDs from the now empty living room. They didn't have to wait long for the food and she picked out a romantic comedy, feeling a need to watch another couple fight, forgive and make up so she didn't feel like the only woman with man troubles.

Caroline fell asleep near the end of the movie and Klaus tucked her under the blankets before getting up to turn off the television and walking across the hall to the study.

"So how did today go?" Elijah asked from his wingback chair as he sipped his drink.

Pouring his own drink and joining his brother by the fireplace Klaus sat down with a loud sigh. "She told me I should be daggered. "

Elijah snorted and just smiled at his brother. "How did that feel? Regret making all those threats to us now?"

Klaus joined in on the laughter. "Maybe to you and Bekah, but Kol deserved every decade he lived in that box."

They clinked their glasses in agreement and sat back to enjoy the quiet room, warming drink, and good company.

When Caroline woke the next morning she was happy to see that Nik was still lightly snoring next to her. As gently as she could, she got out of bed and tiptoed to the door and up the stairs.

She found Bonnie in the kitchen getting a glass of orange juice and she was thankful that her friend was up.

"Hey Bon, do you have a minute?"

Only wearing one of Kol's shirts, Bonnie felt a little exposed, even after last night's interruption. "Yeah, what's up?"

They both took a seat on the couch in the living room and Caroline played with the ends of her hair. "Did Kol tell you anything about what happened when they went out?"

Bonnie swallowed her gulp of juice and shook her head. "Not really. Just that they met some new friends there."

Caroline laughed bitterly. "Friends…yeah, I'm sure."

"What do you mean?"

"Nik almost cheated on me." She blurted, before looking up at her friend's shocked face.

"What? How?" Bonnie now put down her glass and took Caroline's hands in hers as a comforting gesture.

"There was a girl there, a human girl, that was served up to him as a meal…a stripper…escort, I don't know. But things got heated between them after he fed from her and they almost kissed. Elijah had to pull Nik out of a blood lust haze."

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nik had always been so focused on Caroline and their relationship that it was hard to think he would come so close to being unfaithful. "And he told you this?"

Caroline nodded. "Yeah, after we dropped my mom off at the airport."

Bonnie could only look shocked at her blonde friend. They had been friends for a very long time and Caroline had not been treated the best by boys growing up and Bonnie always wished that Nik would never hurt her friend. But no one was flawless, and couples were expected to fight. "What did he have to say for himself?"

"That is was just a lapse in control during the intimacy of feeding. I mean when he feeds from me, it is very intimate, so I can understand how it can go too far, but maybe I don't fully understand because I've never experienced blood lust."

"He feeds from you?"

She blushed. "Yes, mostly during sex though. Haven't you and Kol tried it?"

Bonnie chuckled. "Witch's blood doesn't taste good to vampires. Call it a natural defense mechanism."

"Oh, well it makes the connection between us so strong that I am just drawn into his very soul…you know?"

"I can imagine." Bonnie patted Caroline on the thigh. "So what are you going to do about this?"

Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "Forgive him I guess. I mean, nothing _really _happened, and he told me about it right away. We have had trust issues in the past but I want to move forward from it."

"Make sure to give him a little hell. He doesn't get that as often as he deserves, I am sure."

Both girls stood and Caroline embraces her friend. "I knew that I made you maid of honor for a reason. You always know what to say to me. Thank you, Bon Bon."

"Any time Care, we are sisters, no matter what insane family we have been suckered in to." Bonnie gave her friend a bright small and rolled her eyes jokingly before they parted and she returned her empty glass to the kitchen before going back to bed with Kol.

Caroline made her way back down stairs and crawled back in to bed with Nik. She squirmed up next to him and he instantly wrapped his arms around her tiny waist.

"Thank you." He said with a gruff voice, speaking into her golden curls.

She spun in his arms. "You heard?"

Klaus opened one eye to gauge her temperament. "Just the last part, which is all I think I really needed to hear. Thank you for having faith in me, giving my another chance, forgiving me."

"You forgot the part about me giving you hell."

He groaned and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I was hoping I could help you forget that bit."

"Not a chance. Now I'm going back to sleep, and you are not to wake me for anything until at least ten." With a playful smile, she rolled back over and scooted her back against his front.

He pulled her in tighter and pressed his arousal into her. "But I can do what I want if I don't wake you…"

Caroline elbowed him and giggled. "Don't even think about it Niklaus. Behave."

"Oh, using my full name, it must be serious."

Being respectful of her wishes, he just held her until he felt her breath even out and her body fully relax in to sleep. He snuck out of bed and pulled a chair from the corner of the room over to her side of the bed. Sitting down with his black leather sketchbook that she got him for Christmas, he set out to draw her in the blissful moment of grace and beauty.

The second time she woke that day Nik was not next to her but the open sketchbook rested on his pillow.

The drawing was of her sleeping with both hands cradled under her head and a small smile on her lips. At the bottom of the page, next to his signature he printed, _'Devoting the rest of my life to make you this happy.'_

She smiled at his gesture and got up to shower and then find the rest of the group.

Caroline dried her hair, curled it, applied some makeup, put on a summer dress and some dressy sandals and went up stairs to see where Nik had gone.

Elena and Elijah were up in the living room watching a show on the television and Caroline plopped down next to them.

"Look who finally jointed the land of the living." Elena joked.

Pulling her feet under herself Caroline answered with a soft smile. "Yeah, yesterday was a little exhausting. I think I just needed a day to rest my mind"

Elena was about to ask for further details, but Elijah placed his hand on her leg as a sign to not push it. Caroline noticed the silent communication and was happy that her friend found someone to connect with so deeply.

The episode they were watching ended and Caroline heard the front door open and close before there were footsteps on the polished stone stairs. She turned around in her seat in time to see Nik round the corner with a large punch of flowers in his hand.

"Good afternoon love." He came towards her and leaded over the back of the couch to place a kiss on her forehead.

She smiled up at him and followed him to the kitchen. "Those for me?"

"Of course Caroline." He smiled and unwrapped the water soaked brown paper from the flowers. He spread out bright yellow daffodils, pink and white tulips and gerbera daisies.

"They are beautiful." She stated as he started to arrange them in a large crystal vase.

"I walked down to the flower market on East 28th and picked out a few things that remind me of you. But we can't stay too long. We have an appointment in Long Island in an hour."

Nik had finished putting the flowers in the vase and Caroline reached out and ran her fingers over a smooth tulip petal. "Where are we going?" She asked.

Taking her hand and leading her back down to their room, he wanted to talk to her about it in private and not just assume that she was really doing better about his actions the other night.

"I made this appointment before we came here, and before…you know…what happened…"

"Yeah…" Caroline cut him off, just wanted him to continue and not keep bringing it up.

"Well it's with a jeweler for you to pick out my wedding band."

"Oh."

Klaus was starting to get nervous. "But only if you still want to you know…get married." He lowered his eyes to the floor and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Caroline had not meant for it to come across like that and had to fix this before his sadness turned to anger and he left the house. "Why would I call off the wedding?"

He looked up at her with hope. "Because I'm a horrible man."

She took his hands in hers and squeezed them. "You need to stop believing everything your father told you when you were a boy. You are not a horrible man. You made a mistake and were stopped from that mistake elevating by a dear friend and brother."

Klaus moved quickly and took her into his arms. "I do not deserve you, Caroline."

Pulling back from him, she smiled. "That may be so, but I choose you. I will always choose you. So go wash your face and let's get going."

He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His face was tear stained and he didn't even realize that he had been crying, but he was just so thankful for her. Getting washed up quickly he then made his way back to his lady and out onto the street.

Taking the 59th Street Bridge in to Long Island it didn't take them long to get to the shop that was located on the second floor of a newer five story building. A large modern steel door had the words Unique Settings engraved into it and Klaus held the door open for Caroline.

A sales woman greeted them and Klaus informed her that he had an appointment with the owner.

"Mr. Mikaelson. What a pleasure to have you in my shop again." A man in his late fifty's came from a back office and extended his hand in greeting. "And this must be Caroline. She is even more lovely than you described over the phone. Please come this way."

The man led them back in the direction of his office and sat behind the desk as another young woman with black hair entered with them. "You remember my daughter, Tobie."

"Yes, of course. Always a pleasure seeing you." Klaus kissed the young ladies hand and then presented Caroline. "Tobie, this is Caroline, my fiancé. Dear this is Lynn Behira and his daughter Tobie."

"Pleased to meet you both." Caroline smiled politely.

Tobie left the room quietly and Mr. Behira spoke. "Caroline, if I may, can I see your ring?" He held out his hand in a gentle, not demanding manner and she slid the ring off her finger and placed it in his palm. He pulled out an eyepiece and inspected the ring. "Yes, the Marquise Joséphine jewels. I've only ever seen it in pictures before. What a beautiful piece."

Just then Tobie walked back into the room with a large velvet covered trey that held close to thirty different rings. They were set down on the desk for the couple to look over. "What size are you Niklaus?"

"Ten." He answered while watching Caroline closely as she studied each ring.

Without a second thought she reached out for Nik's left hand and placed one of the rings on to his finger before twisting and turning his hand to see it from every angle.

Klaus had stopped breathing when she slid the cool metal onto his hand. It was such an innocent gesture, but one that had him completely incapacitated. He never thought that this would ever happen to him; falling in love, getting married, having a family, but just feeling the band circling his finger made all of it come to a head and rush over him. This is what he had longed for his whole existence and if not in the company of others, he could have wept with happiness.

"This one." Caroline stated pulling the ring from Nik's hand and giving it to Mr. Behira. Klaus suddenly began to breath again and felt the loss of the warming feeling the ring had provided him.

Caroline thought that the ring suited Nik perfectly, slightly modern and also regal at the same time. It was a platinum band with an inlay of hand engraved gold. It looked like something a king would wear and she knew that he deserved nothing less.

"A fitting choice Ms. Caroline. We shall have one made in your size Niklaus and Tobie will personally bring it to you in Virginia once it is complete." The man stood and again extended his hand to the couple. "If either of you need anything, please call me personally."

Caroline took one of the cards from the desk, wanting to call Mr. Behira later to have a special engraving done on the inside of the ring. "Thank you for your time, Lynn. Tobie, we look forward to seeing you." She then took Nik's hand and they walked out of the shop before catching a cab back home.

After crossing back over into the city Klaus pulled her in close to him. "We leave tomorrow for home. Is there anything else you would like to do while we are here?"

Her smile was mischievous and she fully kissed his lips for the first time in almost two days. "Lock me away in our bedroom and don't let me out until I can't walk right."

Klaus let out a healthy laugh. His Caroline was back, though he was sure that it would take more time for all of her trust to return, he was just thankful to be about to show her with his words and his body how much he only wanted her. Forever.


	5. Amber

**Chapter Five: Amber**

The flight back to Richmond was uneventful and lighthearted with idle conversation, yet Caroline was unusually quiet, preferring to read a book at the front of the plane. Klaus watched her carefully from his seat at the rear with the rest of his family. Although they had made love last night, and Caroline assured him that she was 'fine', he knew that she was still upset. He would need to work extra hard to earn back her trust and start to be more open with her about the realities of being a vampire and the life she was entering into.

"So what's up with the whole anti-social act?" Bekah said, flopping down in the seat next to Caroline and pulling out a fashion magazine.

Caroline placed her bookmark and looked over at her friend, sighing before answering, "Nik had a lapse in judgment while out with the guys and it has made me confused…"

Hearing this, Rebekah was first upset with her brother for doing anything to hurt Caroline, but then become concerned for her friend. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Looking down at her hands in her lap Caroline asked, "Have you ever had issues with blood lust and…sex?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, is feeding sexual? Has someone's blood ever tasted so good that you got…aroused?" Caroline asked finally meeting her friend's eyes.

Rebekah looked mad again. "Is that what happened? Nik had sex with someone else?"

"No, no." Caroline back peddled. "He almost kissed some girl he was feeding on at the club. He said that blood lust sometimes turn in to sexual lust. Is that true?" She wanted to understand more about the workings of vampires and also wanted to know if she could trust Nik's explanation.

Bekah's expression relaxed and then she blushed as best as a vampire could. "There was this one time back in the twenties," She got a far off look on her face, remembering the time, "Nik and I were in Chicago and we would always hang out at this speakeasy owned by a witch named Gloria."

Caroline put her book in the carry-on bag at her feet and turned her body towards Rebekah, becoming very interested in the story.

"One night this guy walks in, crisp white shirt, black suit and bow tie, slicked back hair, very good looking; well he came up to me at the bar and bought me a drink. He smelled so good and I invited him back to our table." Bekah smiled to herself while telling the story. "Surprisingly Nik got along with him as well…Stefan, that was his name.

He would meet us at the bar every night for drinks and dancing, and finally after a week I couldn't take it anymore and had to taste him." She looked at Caroline slightly bashful, talking about such intimate interactions. "He was unlike anything I have ever had. Simple feeding lead to so much more and our affair lasted for over a month."

"What happen to him?" Caroline asked.

Bekah chanced a look over her shoulder before continuing. "Nik found out about us and wasn't happy at all; so I turned him." She shrugged and looked down in her lap, "I figured that if he was a vampire too, that Nik would let him come with us, but instead he compelled Stefan to forget about me and never try to find me."

Caroline looked over to Nik, knowing that he could hear the entire conversation and he at least had the decency to look ashamed of himself. "That's horrible Bekah. Did you love Stefan?"

"I thought I did, but it has been so long that I hardly remember him anymore." Rebekah didn't know why she had just lied to Caroline, maybe because her family was listening in or because Matt was Caroline's dear friend, but she would always wonder what would have been, if Nik had let Stefan stay with them. "So I guess to answer your original question, yes, blood lust and sexual lust can sometimes become intertwined, but that doesn't excuse my brother's actions."

"Sometimes I just feel so lost." Caroline confessed. "I am part of this supernatural world, but it's like I am so naïve to what and who you all really are."

"It will come in time Caroline. Just know that you have made us all better people." Rebekah reached over and patted her friend on the knee. "You have so much going on right now with school, the wedding, and trying to get pregnant; so just know that you have plenty of time before you will have to worry about Nik turning you."

Caroline just offered a small smile before retrieving her book and continuing reading. Bekah rose from her seat and went back to sit next to Matt who was looking rather green, still getting ill from flying.

* * *

A few days after the group got back from their trip Elena had another visit from nurse Emma. Caroline sat by her side as the blood was drawn, feeling a need to be supportive since Elena was doing this for her and Nik.

Once the blood bag was handed off to Klaus to be put in cold storage, Emma was shown to the door and with a friendly smile confirmed her appointment for next week.

Caroline went back to school the week after and again she was thrown into hours of studying, reading, research, and paper writing. One thing that she did schedule between classes was a doctor appointment with her gynecologist so that she could have a check up before her and Nik started to try to get pregnant.

Having learned from last term, Klaus checked Caroline's date book often to see when she had time for him. He would pencil in dates for them to go to dinner and a show, or just a quiet evening at home watching a movie. But like his love had said before, if it wasn't in the book, it wouldn't get done; so when he saw 'Dr. Applegate 11am' on June 10th he decided to question her about it.

"Sweetheart, who is Dr. Applegate?" He asked when he found her up in their room surrounded by books.

Looking up from her studies and placing the cap back on her highlighter, she saw her agenda book in his hand. She wasn't necessarily trying to hide the appointment from him, but she had not brought it up because she wasn't sure if she wanted him to go with her or not.

"My gyno. I figured that if we were going to start trying I should go get checked out and learn how to monitor my cycle, since we only have a week window for it to take." She watched his face and couldn't read him, "That is if you still want to try…"

Klaus snapped out of his own thoughts just in time to hear Caroline question his willingness to have a baby with her, "Of course I still want to try. I am just so unfamiliar with everything…I mean I know how my part goes," He smirked and then continued, "I just don't know what is involved for you."

Caroline giggled. "Yes Nik, you are very good at _your part_, but I guess if you want to go with me, then we both can learn together." She smiled before something dawned on her, "I must warn you though, my doctor is a man."

"Why would you warn me about that? Lots of doctors are men."

"I don't think you understand what this type of doctor does. He will have to look and _touch_ my…special areas." Caroline blushed and then snorted at his facial expression.

"He what!" Klaus yelled and started to pace the room. "Can't you get another doctor?" He couldn't fathom the idea of another man's hands on his Caroline, down there especially.

"Don't be ridiculous Nik. He has been my doctor for years and he is very professional. If you don't think you can handle it than you don't have to be in the room for the exam." Caroline would be scared for Dr. Applegate's life if Nik got too upset.

Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose and walked over to the windows that looked down into the back garden of the property. He had to think of this rationally. The doctor did this for a living, so it wasn't sexual, just a job, and Caroline seemed comfortable with him. There was no way he was leaving Caroline in the room alone with the doctor; he would just need to find a way to control himself.

Caroline had gotten up off the bed and walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and embracing him from behind. "You do realize that once I am pregnant that a lot of doctors will be looking and touching me…you know, cause that is where babies come from." She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips.

He turned in her arms and cupped her face in his hands. "I do know where babies come from thank you very much, but it will just take some adjustment and control for me to be comfortable with it all." He leaned down and kissed her lips. "I am sure that once you are carrying our child, the doctors will be the furthest thing from my mind."

She couldn't help but to smile against his lips but pulled away, not wanting to lead this further. Though it had been a few weeks since they returned from New York, she was still uneasy with what had happened. "I have to finish up on some work for my Clinical Studies class but do you want to do something later?"

Klaus waited for the slow smirk grow across her face, insinuating that they would be getting intimate tonight, but her expression held. Realizing that for the third week in a row he wouldn't be able to connect with her the way he truly wanted to, he relented. "Sounds good to me. I am going to just run out and grab a bite to eat and then I am all yours."

Her smile faded. "Can you take Elijah or Rebekah with you please?" She pleaded with her eyes for him to understand.

His shoulders went slack. He should have expected her request, she has been asking that he not go hunting alone ever since they came home. It wasn't that he didn't mind the company, but there was something about stalking your prey alone and how he enjoyed playing with his food that was just better suited for solitude.

"Caroline, I've already told you that it won't happen again."

"I know, and I want to put my full faith back in you, but the voice in the back of my head is just telling me, not yet." She picked up his left hand and placed a kiss over his ring finger, a gesture that he did to her many times to show his devotion. "Soon, I promise. Just thank you, for being so understanding of my crazy human girl insecurities."

Klaus just nodded once and kissed her lips again before turning from the room to find one of his siblings to go hunting with.

Going down stairs the first one he ran into was his sister. "Hey Bekah care to join me for a feed?"

"She still insisting that you take someone with you?"

Clasping his hands behind his back, Klaus rocked on his heels. "It seems that way."

Blowing a wisp of hair out of her face Bekah turned for the stairs. "Let me go put on some more sensible shoes and then we will go."

He walked to his office and took his leather coat from the back of the sofa, sliding it on as he reentered the foyer. His sister joined him shortly and they headed out and into his car.

They drive north out of town to find less populated hunting grounds. Klaus really wished that he could hunt along, shift to his wolf form and just run free for a while, let off some of the frustration that he had been holding in.

He wasn't necessarily upset with Caroline, but more with their newly strained relationship. He didn't question her love for him or her willingness to have a future with him, but he could tell that she was holding back and he just wanted everything to be normal between them. Klaus only hoped that after her graduation and the wedding, that they would have time, just the two of them, to get to their per-New York bliss.

The siblings found a pub in the town of Ashland that looked promising and parked the car at the side of the building. They went into the bar and each ordered a drink.

Rebekah noticed that her brother was being very quiet, brooding like before he had met Caroline. He nursed his glass of scotch just looking straight ahead. "So…who looks good to you?" She asked, spinning on her bar stool and looking out over the crowded bar.

When he didn't reply, she reached out and touched his arm. This finally got his attention and he raised his eyebrow in question. Once Rebekah repeated her question, he turned to take his pick of the patrons who seemed to be preoccupied with a sporting event on the televisions.

He focused in on a dark haired girl that reminded him of Richa. Wanting to place some of the blame on the human girl back in New York, Klaus knew that this poor woman in the bar would suffer for both his and Richa's actions. He downed his drink, waving for another before sliding off his seat.

Bekah reached out and grabbed his arm before he could walk off. "Are you sure about that?" She asked eyeing the girl across the bar.

"I'm fine Rebekah." He said through clenched teeth.

She released her grip on his arm and watched him cross the dark room to the woman standing with a few friends.

"Excuse me miss, I was wondering if you could help a bloke out." He put on the charm, wanting to lure her away without compulsion.

The dark haired woman turned at the smooth accented voice and smile, "What kind of help did you need?"

Klaus smiled, knowing that he had her, "Out of stupidity I made a bet with a chap at the bar about the game, but have no idea about the rules. Perhaps you could explain it to me."

"Right, cause in England you have cricket, not baseball." The woman answered. "Well each team tries to hit the ball and run around the bases for points. The hitter gets three chances to hit the ball before it moves on to another player. Once three players are out, the teams switch places. Team with the most points wins."

He laughed at her simplification of the sport. "How about I buy you a drink for your help?" Klaus gave her is classic sexy smirk and he heard her heart rate pick up.

Now it was her turn to laugh, "If you wanted to chat me up and buy me a drink, you could have just asked." She turned and picked up her small purse from the table. "I'm Amber by the way."

"Thomas." He said in return, holding his hand out and waiting for her to walk towards the bar. Once her back was turned he looked at her two friends who were still at the table, "You will not remember me or coming here with Amber today." He compelled them and then followed the other woman to the bar.

Rebekah was talking with a young blonde man, so Klaus went back to his seat next to her, this time with Amber taking the stool to his left. "So what will to be?" He asked, waving the bartender over.

"Vodka martini, stirred, up, with a twist." Amber ordered with a smirk.

Klaus couldn't help the smile that took over his face. A lady that knew how to order a drink, fantastic. "Scotch, neat." He called out to the bar keep.

Amber took a sip from her glass before asking, "What brings you to this podunk town?"

"Just passing through on my way to DC and from that drink order I take it that you are not from around here as well."

"Born here, but now just visiting from New York." She said eyeing him and admiring the scruff on his jaw and the dimples in his cheeks. "I don't know what you are expecting Thomas, but I'm not the kind of girl that has flings with strangers."

Tipping his glass towards her as a sign of understanding he said, "Not to worry, I am just looking for some pleasant company for a drink."

She giggled and downed the rest of her cocktail, ordering another. Within an hour she complete drunk and taken by his charms. "I've never been with a foreign guy before." She slurred.

"Well I guess your luck just changed." He said, throwing his arm over her shoulder. He looked back at his sister and gave her a nod. She quickly compelled the guy she was with to follow, and the four walked out of the bar.

Getting her into the car was easy, as Rebekah and her snack slipped into the back seat. It didn't take him long to find his favorite playground, an empty warehouse. The vast space inside the building allowed him the use of all of his heighten senses.

"Whoa, what is this place?" Amber said with a drunken giggle as she eyed the rusted and ill maintained building.

Klaus finally compelled her, "Get out of the car and go hide in the building."

Rebekah sighed from behind him, "Why must you always play with your food?"

"I need this Bekah, you can stay here if you must." He said as he stepped out of the car and took a deep inhale of air, trying to pick up her scent. Once he caught it he casually walked towards the building, in no hurry to end this hunt prematurely.

Watching her brother stalk towards a slightly open door, Rebekah turned back to the man who was sitting quietly next to her. She didn't really care for the theatrics of how Nik hunted, preferring to just get it over with and move on to something more exciting…like shoe shopping.

"Hold out your hand and just relax, this will be over soon." She cooed at the young man as he complied. She took his arm in her hands and sank her fangs in to the pulse point at his wrist. Pull after pull she listened to his heartbeat, stopping just as it slowed to a dangerous rate.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness she used her still extended fang to slice open her finger. She then shoved it in to his mouth, bored already as he swallowed enough of her blood to heal him. It took a few moments for him to gain back his strength as Rebekah filed her nails.

Once he was looking around confused as to what had happened, Rebekah turned to him again. "Leave. You don't know what happened after the bar. The only thing you will remember is that you blacked out and will wake up at home."

Klaus was hiding in a dark corner of the building, just waiting, listening, watching. Amber was breathing heavily and he could practically smell the fear rolling off of her. He had promised Caroline that he wouldn't kill an innocent, but in his eyes this woman was Richa, and she was far from innocent of anything.

"Pretty little lamb, come out and play." He said strolling out from the shadows with his hands clasped behind his back. When he didn't hear her make any movements from across the room he flashed over to her. "Boo." He said with a smirk as she screamed out in surprise.

"Look Thomas, you don't have to do this. Just let me go and we can forget this whole thing." Amber pleaded from her place on the concrete floor.

His eyes flashed yellow and he smiled wider, "What would be the fun in that?"

Amber scooted backwards away from him when she saw the murderous look on his face. When he didn't make a move towards her, she scampered to her feet and ran.

"Bad idea sweetheart." Klaus chuckled as he allowed her to get a head start. He rushed after her, appearing in front of her and causing her to skid to a stop to change directions.

"Just get on with it Nik." Rebekah called from outside the building, still standing by the car.

With a sneer, both directed at his sister and his prey he raced towards the fleeing woman. With animalistic accuracy, he coiled his body and pounced on Amber, knocking her to the ground.

"Please don't, please don't hurt me." Amber whispered as tears came down her cheeks.

Klaus squatted down and reached out, wiping the moisture from her face, "Don't fret, soon you won't feel a thing." He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, sinking his fangs in to her neck as she struggled against his hold. This only caused him to hold her tighter while ripping and biting at her flesh.

After a few minutes he was starting to get full from the fragrant blood that rushed down his throat and Amber had become limp in his arms. Her body was bruised and broken, her neck torn open.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that my brother was a ripper." Rebekah commented while leaning against the doorframe of the warehouse.

Standing up from the lifeless body at his feet he pulled a cloth handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned off his lips and chin of Amber's life force. "I had some things to work out."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, "Did it help?" She questioned as she pointed towards the mutilated body.

"Surprisingly it did." Klaus smirked and started to clean off his hands. "And what I did here isn't even close to being a ripper…now your boy Stefan, he was a true ripper."

Her face paled at the mention of her past lover's name.

"You seemed shocked that I over heard that little conversation you had with Caroline on the plane." He walked towards his sister and tucked the bloodied handkerchief back into his pocket.

Standing up straight and lifting her chin, Rebekah squared off, "What do you know of him? You ordered him away from us, remember?"

"And for good reason. I kept tabs on him for about a decade and he left a very bloody trail behind him after we parted ways, not the type of man that I would wish upon my baby sister."

"That wasn't your choice to make Nik. You took away both of our choices in the matter." She stalked towards her brother, "Did you ever think that if we would have been there to show him the way, to teach him control, that he wouldn't have become a ripper? And you are one to talk, you're body count would rival Hitler's."

Klaus' eyes flashed with anger, "You compare me to a mentally deranged mass murder?"

"If the shoe fits." Rebekah answered with narrowed eyes. She was beyond upset with her brother. He was flailing, out of control. Between the incident in New York and now almost splitting this Amber woman in two, she wasn't sure if he was headed down a dark hole again.

He paced around the darkened room a few times before turning back to Rebekah with a deep scowl on his face, "I feel like a caged animal some times Bekah. I love Caroline, she is my world so do not misunderstand me, but do you know how long it has been since I killed someone?"

Looking down at her nails bored, she answered. "About five minutes."

Klaus growled and threw his hands up in the air, "She wants me to be someone that I have never been. I am a killer. It is in both sides of my nature and without it, I feel I might just go mad."

"Talk to her. She does not understand our need, our drive to kill. She was thrown into this world with very little explanation of what it all really meant." Rebekah offered as she again approached her brother, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go home. You will need to get cleaned up before you see her."

Looking down at himself he was covered in blood. "Maybe she should see me like this, for what I really am." He was being to brood again.

"Oh no you don't. You are getting married in less than three months and you are not going to pull the 'I'm not deserving of love' card now. You will not push her away." Rebekah held her brother at arms length and looked deep into his dark eyes, "She will understand with time. It took us decades to come to terms with what mother did to us, and even longer to recover after finally killing father."

Just nodding his head, but keeping quiet he followed Bekah back out to the car where they slipped out of the city just as quickly as they had entered. He kept his eyes on the road and a tight grip on the steering wheel the whole way home.

Walking straight into the house he went to his office and pulled a clean shirt out of closet. In the down stairs bathroom he looked at himself in the mirror. There was blood still streaked across his face, in his hair, and dripping down his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he was this messy, but everything about the hunt today excited him, not in a sexual way, but deep in his hybrid being.

Turning on the tap and cleaning his face and hair best he could, he slipped off his soiled shirt and put on the fresh one, at least trying to be presentable to Caroline before he could shower. Wiping dried blood from his chest he sighed and buttoned up the shirt, exited the bathroom and headed for the stairs.

"Hey, did you enjoy your time with Bekah?" Caroline asked still in her spot on the bed.

Klaus couldn't help the smirk that took over his features. "I did. I'm going to get cleaned up and then we can do what ever you want tonight." He headed for his bathroom but stopped when he heard the bed shift.

Caroline stood a few feet behind him. "Maybe I could join you?" She asked with a shy smile.

He groaned, partly because he wanted nothing more than to hold her naked wet body to him, but also because she couldn't have picked a worse time to ask to shower with him. But he couldn't deny her when she looked at him with her bedroom eyes, and he was already aching for her.

"Of course love. Let me just get this grim off and then you can join me."

She smiled in agreement and turned back towards the bed to put away her books while Klaus turned on the shower. She knew that he could get dirty and bloody on his hunting trips so it was understandable that he wanted to wash that all away before she went in. He shielded her from the more gory details of his vampirism, and she was split between being thankful and annoyed by it.

With all of her school materials packed away she slid into the steam filled bathroom and inhaled, smelling Klaus. Even her human senses could pick up his smell, like leather and earth, trees in spring and the on-coming rain.

Undressing she stepped into the shower and took in his wet back as beads of soap suds traveled down the hard plains of his pale skin. He was just finishing washing his hair and though Caroline knew that he heard her enter, he had not turned around to face her yet.

"You seem tense Nik. Is everything alright?" She questioned stepping up behind him and reaching out to run her fingers along his rib cage.

Klaus took a few more moments, just enjoying her touch before turning. "Yes love, everything is fine, just happy to finally have you all to myself." He smiled and leaded down to kiss her waiting lips.

* * *

**AN: I want to thank all of you for hanging in there with me for this update. I know it has been too long, but real life has been hard. If you follow me on Twitter or Tumblr you know that there was a death in the family a few days before Chirstmas and I have just been trying to be there for my husband's family. That mixed with my own depression has made me very useless in the writing department. **

**Now on to this chapter, just like in the show, I wanted to remind everyone that Klaus is a killer. We get wrapped up in the romance of him and Caroline and sometimes forget what he is capable of. I hope you all enjoyed this and I will try to update soon. Leave some love. ;)**


	6. Lost Love

**Chapter Six: Lost Love**

This had to be one of the scariest things he had done in his entire existence. Looking around the pastel colored walls, lightwood and pleather seats, and surrounded by woman made his skin crawl. Caroline was filling out some paper work on a clipboard and seemed completely as ease in this environment.

Klaus on the other hand was starting to question his decision to come to this appointment. He held his breath to avoid the smell of disinfections and medical supplies; it had been so long since he had needed medical attention and was not accustom to these modern facilities. When Caroline stood to take the clipboard back to the front desk he looked around at all the woman sitting in the waiting room. He could hear a few extra heartbeats from the pregnant woman who sat around flipping through magazines.

"Caroline." A nurse called with a smile from the door that led back into the doctor's office.

They both stood and followed the nurse. Caroline was weighed and her blood pressure was taken. Klaus didn't know much about human medicine so each time the nurse put anything into the chart he would ask if the numbers were normal.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you if something needs to be checked further." The nurse said with a kind smile. She always found nervous new dad's endearing.

They were then led into an exam room, where Caroline was asked to undress and put on the paper gown. This is when Klaus really started to sweat.

"Do you need to go wait in the car?" Caroline asked, giggling at him. He was pacing the small room as she came out in the exam gown. She hopped up onto the exam table to wait for the doctor. "Nik, sit." She pointed to a chair to her right and her expression left no room for argument.

Defeated, he sat in the chair, getting nervous every time he heard someone walk passed the room. Finally after ten minutes of foot tapping and fidgeting in his chair, the doctor came into the room.

"Good afternoon folks, Dr. Applegate was called away for a delivery, I'm Dr. Harris."

Klaus had been prepared for the man in his late forties that Caroline had described; he was not expecting the tall, dark skinned woman who somehow made a white lab coat look attractive.

Taking the change in stride Caroline extended her hand, "I'm Caroline and this is my fiancé, Nik."

The doctor shook both of their hands, "What can I help you two with today?"

"We are getting married in September and would like to start a family shortly afterwards and I just wanted to get checked out and learn how to track my cycle."

"Okay, it says here that you are twenty-one and have been coming in for your regular exams." The doctor stated looking down at Caroline's chart. "Is there anything I should know about that is concerning you in regards to your ability to conceive?"

Caroline shook her head, "Not really, we are just very new at this and are looking for all the help we can get." She looked over at Nik who had been very quiet during the entire encounter.

"Will you be staying for the exam?" Dr. Harris asked, looking over at Klaus.

"I'm sorry, what?" He wasn't expecting to be addressed, and he had to focus. As much as he was uncomfortable with a male doctor touching Caroline, he wasn't sure how he felt about a woman doing it.

"Are you staying or will you be waiting in the lobby?" The doctor repeated her question.

Klaus looked to Caroline for help; he was completely out of his element and though he probability should have stayed in the car all along, he needed to be here for Caroline. If they wanted this to work, to really have a family, he would need to be apart of things he never thought would come to be.

Reaching over to Klaus, Caroline took his hand reassuringly, "He'll be staying."

Swallowing thickly, Klaus looked over at the amazing woman who was always so understanding and strong. She had handled everything in their spotty relationship with poise and elegance. He again questioned if he was really worthy of her love.

The exam went as Caroline told him it would and having Dr. Harris working with them didn't bother him as much as he expected. Before he knew it, the doctor was removing her gloves and folding the paper apron back down over Caroline's legs, "Go ahead and get dressed and I will meet with you in my office." She said before leaving the room.

"See, that wasn't bad." Caroline mused as she dressed.

Klaus had to laugh, because he realized that he was blowing this whole thing out of proposition. "Not at all. I don't relish in the fact that anyone else is able to touch you, but as you pointed out, as we go along this will become more common."

Caroline slipped on her shoes and then hand in hand they stepped out of the exam room and walked down the hall to the doctor's personal office. Dr. Harris was seated behind a large dark wooden desk that was littered with charts.

"Please, both of you take a seat." The doctor said with a cheerful smile and motioned towards two chairs on the opposite side of her desk. Once the couple sat she continued, "I didn't see anything abnormal with your exam and you said that you are menstruation normally. It will be a few days before your lab work comes in, but I don't see any thing that would prevent you from becoming pregnant."

Klaus smiled and he squeezed Caroline's hand. "That is great news."

"How can I track my ovulation?" Caroline questioned. Since they only had a week at a time for the spell to work, and during that time Nik would be weakened, she wanted to make sure that she knew the right time for him to take the enchanted tonic.

Doctor Harris folded her hands on her desk and smiled at the couple, "For most women with a twenty-eight to thirty-two day cycle, ovulation happens between days eleven and twenty-one. My best advice is to just have fun with it, if you are too stressed about trying to get pregnant, you most likely won't."

Both Caroline and Klaus felt very comfortable with the doctor's relaxed and straight forward attitude. So much in fact that they discussed in the car ride home switching all of Caroline's future care to Dr. Harris' service.

"This is all becoming very real." Caroline said while she played with her hands as they approached their neighborhood.

Klaus chuckled from the drivers seat. "I've heard an expression about girls getting cold feet, that isn't what this is?"

Stopping her fiddling, she reached her hand over the center console and rested it on his knee. "No, nothing like that. I am one-hundred percent positive that I want everything with you, but I just never saw myself getting married and starting a family so young."

He stayed quiet for a moment, deep in thought, "We can wait." He didn't chance a look over to Caroline, not knowing what her reaction would be. As much as he wanted everything with her as well, time was a formality for him, and she was still young, a few years wouldn't make her any less beautiful when she chose immortality.

"That's not what I meant," Caroline started, her hand still rested on his leg. "I know that you are worried about me getting hurt again because I'm human and fragile…"

"I can keep you safe, what ever you decide." He interjected.

She smiled sweetly at him, "I know you can. You are the strongest, big bad wolf," she chuckled at her nickname for him, "but the wedding is planned, everyone has RSVPed, and I want to give you that child in the painting that you stare at most days, even though you don't think I notice."

"You are an amazing woman, and I hope you never let me forget how loving and understanding you truly are."

They pulled into the driveway and as they walked into the house Rebekah was already pacing in the living room. "Oh, thank goodness you are home." She rushed towards Caroline, her heeled shoes clicking against the marble floor.

"What's the matter Bekah?" Klaus asked, worried about his sister and thinking there may be a threat he needed to take care of.

Resuming her pacing, which seemed to Caroline to be a Mikaelson trait, Rebekah huffed, "It's Matt…I just don't understand boys of this time!"

"And I'm out." Klaus said with a smile, placing a kiss on the top of Caroline's head and heading for the stairs.

Caroline approached her distraught blonde friend, "Look, Beks. I need to get to class in a few minutes, but how about we meet up at the coffee shop on campus after and we can talk."

"Thank you Caroline. It sucks that I had to wait a thousand years for a sister, but I'm glad that I'm getting you. I'll meet you at the commons around five, maybe we can do dinner after?"

"Sounds good to me, give me a text when you get on campus." Caroline hurried up to her and Klaus' shared room to collect her school bag and give him a quick kiss before heading back out to her car and driving the short distance to school.

This was her final semester at the university and she was again loaded down with classes. She couldn't believe that almost a year ago she had first caught the eye of the handsome man with the killer accent and being assaulted by Tyler. So much had changed in the past twelve months.

She was getting married in a few short months and planning to have children. Both of her best friends were in serious relationships with her soon to be brother-in-laws, but what shocked her the most was her introduction into the secret world of things that go bump in the night.

Admittedly she had not been spending a whole lot of time with her friends, being so wrapped up in school, Nik, and the upcoming wedding, that she truly couldn't remember the last time they all hung out after returning from New York. As she pulled in to the parking lot, she made a promise to herself to make time for a girls' night very soon.

Caroline was thankful for all of the extra time she had been putting into studying because the professor handed out a pop quiz at the beginning of class. She finished quickly and went out into the hall to get some chips out of the vending machine before class started again.

"Cheez-Its, good choice," came a smooth and masculine voice from behind her.

She turned to see a very handsome guy standing behind her with a dollar in his hand, clearly waiting for her to free up the machine. He was about the same height as Nik, maybe slightly taller with coppery brown hair, deep grey eyes, and a tight black tee-shirt stretched across his toned chest; not that she took notice of him at all.

"They are my all time favorite cheese snack." She said politely, purposely flashing her large engagement ring as she held up her bag of crackers.

The man didn't move and Caroline was trapped between him, the vending machine, and a brick wall. "Do I know you?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her and inhaling deeply, "You _smell_ familiar."

Caroline realized right then that he was a vampire. She swallowed thickly, wondering what she should do. As close to Nik and Rebekah as she had been just an hour earlier, she most likely smelled like a vampire herself. "I don't believe we have met, but you might know my fiancé, Niklaus." She used his given name since that is the name that was feared among the vampire community.

"Ah, the Mikaelson. I have heard of this family. You must be a very important…human to be under their protection." He had paused long enough to hear her heart beat and confirm that although she smelled like the undead, she was indeed among the living.

"I am. Perhaps you would like an audience with Niklaus. I can have it arranged." Nik had taught her how to deal with these types of situations, knowing that in most cases the mere mention of his name would dispense any ulterior motives. She reached into her back pocket to retrieve her phone, just incase she needed to send an S.O.S. text to Nik.

The man stepped back, in a sign that he meant her no harm and gave her a toothy smile. "Forgive my rudeness. I am Stefan Salvatore." He extended his hand in greeting.

Shifting her still unopened snack and phone to one hand she accepted his offer. "Nice to meet you Stefan, I'm Caroline." She was relived that he was not a threat, "You should meet up with me after class. I'm having coffee with Rebekah Mikaelson, you should meet her before Niklaus, she is a bit friendlier." Caroline said with a laugh.

"I would be honored." Stefan said in return.

"Well I have to get back to class. I'm in room 114 and my class ends at 4:45." She waved and then walked back down the hall, disappearing behind the classroom door. As quickly as she could, she sent a text to Rebekah, saying she was bringing a plus one to coffee and also scarfed down her snack before the professor restarted the lecture.

The clock on Caroline's laptop said 4:47 and the professor still had like three slides to go over. Many of her classmates had already packed up their things, waiting for the mid-aged man to realize what time it was. Finally a few students just started walking out.

"Sorry about the time class," the professor said very unapologetically, "go over the last few slides at home and read chapter ten for next week. I will have your quiz grades online in the next few days and your research topics are due in two weeks."

Caroline quickly shoved her things into her bag, hoping that Stefan didn't think that she stood him up. The last thing she needed was to upset some vampire that she didn't know who was lurking around campus. As she exited the room she saw him leaning up against the wall opposite the door now wearing a black leather jacket and had a brown leather satchel over one shoulder.

"I'm glad you waited," she said with a smile as the started to walk out of the building, "the professor just went on and on today." As they neared the doors she stopped short. "It's still a little sunny out, do we need to wait a minute?" she asked in a whisper.

Stefan gave her a small laugh, "No, I am _equipped_ to handle the sun," he said twisting a large ring around his finger, "but thank you for asking."

Caroline was starting to like the young man. He was very polite and she could tell he was an older vampire by the way he talked and acted. They didn't make men like him anymore and it was refreshing to say the least after spending three years dealing the horny, drunk, disrespectful college boys.

They walked towards the commons and Caroline checked her phone, seeing that Rebekah was already waiting at the coffee shop. "I think you will really enjoy meeting Rebekah. She doesn't get to interact with many others of your kind."

"If I may say, respectfully to a woman who is already clearly spoken for," Stefan started glancing down at her ring finger, "that if she is as beautiful and charming as you, I am sure to get on with her just fine."

Caroline couldn't help but giggle and blush at his statement. "She is, but may I make one suggestion?" The young man nodded and she continued, "When and if you meet Niklaus, keep your flattering words about me to a minimum. He is a very jealous and impulsive man, if you catch my meaning." She gave him a serious look but then smiled when he nodded in understanding, clearly not offended by her warning.

"Noted."

They walked into the coffee shop and saw that Rebekah had already sat down at a table, Caroline's normal drink order already waiting. Caroline smiled at her friend from across the room, but became confused when Rebekah's face turned paler than it normally was.

"Hey Beks, you feeling alright?" Caroline questioned as her and Stefan finally got to the table.

Rebekah couldn't believe her eyes, "I'm fine…" she was able to stammer out as she stood from her chair, "and your new friend?"

"Oh, how rude of me. Rebekah this is Stefan, Stefan this is my dear friend and soon to be sister Rebekah Mikaelson."

The two shook hands, the female counterpart still in a daze. "I'm going to go get a drink." Stefan motioned over his shoulder at the line of people waiting for coffee.

Caroline took a seat and watched Rebekah's eyes follow Stefan all the way to the order counter before she finally sat back down. "What's with you?" Caroline asked.

Rebekah quickly took out her phone and started typing away. A few seconds later Caroline's phone buzzed in her pocket. Rolling her eyes she took it out and read the long message on the screen.

_'I can't talk because he will hear, but remember the story I told you on the plane ride back from New York? Well, that's him. I don't know why he is here in Richmond of all places, and he was compelled to not remember me, so please just play it cool and then hopefully I never have to see him again.'_

Looking up at her friend in shock, Caroline couldn't believe that it didn't click sooner. How many vampires named Stefan were there, really? Remembering back to the story, this is the man that Rebekah was in love with back in the twenties.

Stefan came back over with a large coffee and sat down in one of the empty chairs, closer to Caroline, "So I finally get to meet a Mikaelson. I've heard a lot about your family."

Giving him an unenthusiastic smile Rebekah couldn't help but be uncomfortable, "We try to keep a low profile when we plan to stay in one location for an extended period of time."

Seeing him again after all this time was bringing up so many unresolved emotions within the blonde vampire. They had been, in essence, ripped from each other over ninety years ago. Back then she had thought that Stefan could have been the man she would spend her eternity with. She felt that she would never have to be alone again after the first night they spent together.

Now, to have him sitting in front of her, having no idea who she was or remember any of the amazing times they had together, made her heart ache. How could she still hold so much love for this man while he looked at her as if she were a stranger?

"Rebekah is attending the university as well." Caroline stated with a proud smile.

"I'm glad that there are others like us out there that feel the need to education themselves and not just drift through eternity." Stefan took a drink of his coffee, meeting Rebekah's gaze.

Caroline sat back, observing the connection that still existed between Rebekah and Stefan. As much as she was enjoying this reunion, she remembered the reason she had met up with her friend was to talk about her boyfriend. "So how is Matt?" Caroline asked Rebekah.

Rebekah's eyes shifted between her two companions, "Uh, yeah…Matt is becoming distant. Ever since we talked about…the development between you and Nik," she paused for her meaning to hit Caroline, "he has be distracted when we are together, or makes up excuses when I ask him to spend time with me."

They had to be careful how they worded their conversation. They didn't want Stefan to go around telling the rest of the vampire population that is was possible for the undead to procreate, or that the Mikaelson's had the only two people who could make the spell work.

"I'm sorry Beks, I know that this life isn't for everyone and us humans have lived in the dark about your world for so long." She reached over and placed her hand on her friend's arm.

"You are dating a human boy?" Stefan questioned.

"It seems that humans have caught the eyes and hearts of all of the Mikaelson's this time around." Caroline said with a smirk. "So what are you going to do?" She asked Rebekah, turning the conversation back to Matt.

With a large sigh, Rebekah slumped back in her seat, "I have no idea. Talk to him I guess, but you know how I feel about…the development, and if he doesn't want the same things as I do, then maybe I should give him the option to be with a human girl, and have a normal life."

"Don't assume you know what Matt wants. Asking a twenty-one year old boy what he wants for the future is a big deal. Most guys in their thirties would freak out about the same thing." Caroline joked, getting an amused snort out of Stefan. "How old were you when you were turned?"

"Nineteen, but that was back in the nineteen twenties, so the expectations on young men were very different."

"It's true. In my time, both my brothers and I were quite old to be unwed, but father wasn't a very trusting man and didn't allow us enough interaction with other families in order to find suitable matches." Rebekah had a far off and somewhat disappointed look on her face.

Wanting to change the subject, Caroline turned to Stefan, "So what tales do you have from your long life and what brought you to Richmond?"

Finishing the last of his coffee he set down his empty cup and answered, "Well I was turned in the early 1920s while in Chicago, but don't remember the circumstances of it. I went on sort of a blood bender until a good friend of mine Lexi helped me out. We floated around the country for a while and split up in the forties. The next decade was sort of a blur and I lost myself a little, so she had to step back in again, but I spent some time with her after that and went overseas when transcontinental travel got more comfortable."

"And Richmond?"

"Virginia has always been home. I was born and raised in a small town, Mystic Falls. You probability never heard of it."

Caroline looked at him slack jawed, "I'm from Mystic Falls! My mom is the sheriff. What a coincidence." She bounced in her seat, excited about knowing someone else from the remote area of western Virginia.

"Small world." Stefan sat back in his chair smiling at the blonde human.

"You should come to dinner tomorrow night." Caroline said, causing the young man to raise an eyebrow in her direction. "Not that kind of dinner, but food, real food. Come meet the rest of the family and I will introduce you to Niklaus."

"Do you think that is really a good idea?" Rebekah asked, indicating with her eyes for Caroline to please reconsider.

"I wouldn't want to impose." Stefan cut in.

Caroline stood and collected her bag, "No, I insist." She took out a pen and wrote her number on his empty coffee cup. "Text me later and I will sent you our address and what time to come over."

Rebekah had also stood up from the table and had her purse over her shoulder, "Well I guess we will be off then." She watched at Caroline waved at Stefan and then they both headed for the door.

It was now dark out and Rebekah had to walk faster in her heels to catch up to Caroline, "What were you thinking back there? I know that we are almost family and Nik would kill me if I hurt you, but I just want to slap you silly right now."

"Why?" Caroline said, stopping in her tracks and turning to her friend. "You are on the outs with Matt, Stefan seems like a really nice guy, and he is the love of your life. I fail to see the problem."

"Things with Matt could work out…"

"Come on Beks. You know as well as I do, that he isn't made for this life. What are you so scare of? It's just dinner."

They started walking towards Caroline's car again, "I'm not scared of anything. It is you who should be scared! Inviting another vampire into Nik's home. One that he compelled to forget about us no less."

"Well if he doesn't remember anything, than what does Nik have to worry about?" Caroline huffed, her hand on her hip. "Exactly. Now if you don't stop complaining I will leave you here and make you walk home."

If she had not loved Caroline as much as her own brothers, she would have had the sense to knock her down a few notches for the rude tone. With a low growl Rebekah stomped over to Caroline's car and stood by the passenger door.

With a small smirk, Caroline unlocked the car and could not help letting a snorting laugh slip as her friend slumped into the passenger seat of the car, slamming the door behind her. Once she got into the car and started the engine, she looked over at Rebekah and noticed a single tear sliding down her face.

"I'm sorry Bekah, I didn't mean to upset you. You know I wouldn't make you walk home."

"It's not you, and it's not that." She sniffled.

Caroline gave her friend a moment, taking the time to turn the volume down on the radio. She also made no move to start the drive home; instead she turned in her seat towards Rebekah.

"What if he never sees me the same?"

"What do you mean?"

"I never stopped loving him Caroline, not in ninety years. Sitting with him just now crushed me, because I couldn't reach over and touch him or embrace him. I can remember like it was yesterday the way he used to look at me with so much love, and now it is gone." She held her face in her hands, sobbing.

Caroline reached over and wrapped her arms around Rebekah's shoulders. "We will just ask Nik to give Stefan his memories back."

"The last time I asked him that very thing, he put a dagger through my heart and locked me away in a coffin for nearly eighty years."

This new information took Caroline back. She knew that Nik had his brother Finn locked away but she couldn't imagine him doing the same to Rebekah to keep her away from a man she loves.

"I promise you Bekah, I will do everything I can to set this right for you. It is not fair for Nik to decide who is worthy of giving and receiving love."

Rebekah nodded and wiped the moisture from below her eyes. She believed that Caroline would try to help, but didn't feel confident that anything would change her brother's mind on the topic of her and Stefan's past or future relationship.

Caroline tried to give her friend a reassuring smile and pulled the car in to gear before heading towards their home. Once parked in the driveway, Rebekah exited the car and walked towards the street.

"Where are you going?" Caroline questioned in concern. She knew that this family could get very impulsive when they were upset and she didn't want someone else taking the brunt of Rebekah's anger.

"I just need a drink," she decided to clarify once she got a disappointed look from Caroline, "alcohol…not human."

With a nod, Caroline locked her car and entered the house, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge on her way to find Nik. She figured he would either be in his study or in their room. She found him in his studio, painting a beautiful landscape.

"Hey love, how was school?"

She took a sip of her water and leaned up against the large wooden table in the center of the room. "It was good. I met a new friend today."

"Oh really, tell me about her." He replied setting down the brush he had been working with. He crossed the room to place a kiss on the top of her head.

"_His_ name is Stefan. I believe you may know him." She said, crossing her arms over her chest, daring him to lie to her about it.

He didn't know whether to be upset or nervous, "It isn't safe for you to be consorting with vampires without me around."

"Stefan is no threat to me." She demanded.

Klaus backed away from her now because he could feel his anger rising, "He is a ripper! Do you know what that means, how someone gets that title?" He raged, and continued when Caroline made no move to answer him, "A ripper feeds so violently that they rip their victims limb from limb. Can you fathom why I wouldn't want you around someone like that?"

Caroline clenched her fists at her side, knowing that he didn't trust her judgment when it came to meeting new people. He wanted her in this supernatural world with him, yet he didn't think she could make wise choices as to which company to keep.

"He isn't like that anymore. Maybe if you hadn't compelled him, he wouldn't have become a ripper and your sister could have been happy, instead of being shut in a coffin."

"You don't know what you are talking about Caroline."

She knew that she wouldn't get anywhere with him, so she turned towards the door, looking over her shoulder in time to say, "Well I guess that I can understand better when he comes for dinner tomorrow night. You should stay down here tonight," and with that she exited the room, taking her school bag up to their room to study until she hopefully could fall asleep.

* * *

**AN: Thank you to every one who had hung in there with me for this story. I hope to have things moving along faster now. I feel like I have gotten over my writing hump and will be back on track with both my stories. I am also looking for something to beta, so if you are a writing, or know someone looking for a beta, let me know. **

**Oh yeah, also...leave me some love in some reviews. ;)**


	7. Let Them Have Cake

**AN: I wanted to get this out before I had to go into work, so please ignore any errors, I will try to fix them later. Sorry for the long time between posts, RL is just odd right now. I hope you enjoy. :)**

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**Seven: Let Them Have Cak**e

Caroline had been up in the room she shared with Klaus for about two hours when she heard a knock at the door. "Go away, Nik," she called out not looking up from her book.

The door started to open and she signed, "I'm not ready to talk to you." She said exhaling and moving her eyes from her text to the doorway, but was surprised to see Rebekah standing there. "Oh, hey Bekah. What's up?"

Rebekah stepped into the room, closing the door behind her and moved over to her friend on the large bed. "I overheard…"

"Of course," Caroline muttered under her breath, closing her textbooks and laptop, giving all of her attention to Rebekah, knowing where this conversation was heading.

Living in a house full of vampires had many drawbacks, including having no privacy. She knew that whenever her and Nik had words, that some one would be in to defend him.

"He is only looking out for you."

"I know he is," Caroline signed with frustration, "and I don't know why I'm being so difficult. Maybe it's the stress of school and the wedding being right around the corner." Caroline folder her legs under her and sat facing her friend.

Mimicking Caroline position Rebekah got comfortable, "You have to understand that Nik has never felt this strongly about anyone, including me I think." She laughed as she saw Caroline smile as well. "He only wants what is best for you and means well, even if he can't express that in the best way."

Now Caroline couldn't help the snort that escaped her lips. "I suppose we have both been at each other's throats lately. Do you think having Stefan over will push him over the edge?"

"Most likely, but at this point who cares? I have spent almost one hundred years wondering what could have been and I'm not going to let Nik decide what is best for me anymore. I'm over a thousand years old for goodness sakes!"

Caroline looked at her friend with pride, "It's about time you took your life into your own hands Bekah. You are a strong, beautiful, and bright woman who deserves all the good things that life has to offer."

Rebekah was in tears by the time Caroline moved the last few inches between them and wrapped her arms around the other blonde. She found it endearing that while Rebekah had come up to comfort Caroline and slightly defend Klaus, it was Caroline who ended up offering comfort.

When their embrace ended, Caroline reached over to the nightstand where her phone rest and smirked at her friend, "What time should we have him come over tomorrow?"

With schoolwork forgotten, the girls spent the next few hours coming up with the perfect dinner menu for the next night. The girls were going to do all of the cooking and messages had been sent to Elena and Bonnie to come over around noon the next day to help prepare.

Klaus walked up the stairs as quietly as he could and stood outside of his bedroom door, listening to Caroline and his sister laughing and chatting away. He was glad that Caroline was happy, but just wished that it was him that could provide that happiness. He needed to learn how to trust her, she had survived this far without him and while she was too quick to welcome people into her life, she was a good judge of character.

Looking down at his left hand, he fingered the two bands that rest in his palm. The rings had come in from New York and he was hoping to share this moment with Caroline, but knew that it would have to wait until he could redeem himself. Having Stefan in his home was not helping the situation much though.

With a long sigh, which he is sure his sister could hear, he went back down to his study to ready the couch for sleeping; taking a fresh bottle of scotch with him.

"You should call Matt and ask him to come to dinner." Caroline said pulling all of their recipes off of the printer.

"I'm not sure," Rebekah pondered. "Won't it be awkward having both him and Stefan there?"

Caroline just shrugged her shoulders all the while smiling to her self as Rebekah hovered her finger over the call button on her phone. With a sigh she finally committed and the phone rung twice before it went to voice mail.

"Hey Matty it's me, Beks. We are having a dinner thing here at the house tomorrow and it would mean a lot to me if you came. So I guess just call me when you get this and let me know." She lowered the phone from her ear and ended the call.

They both knew that Matt had ignored the call and sent it to voice mail, they just didn't know why. He was usually such a stand up guy and for him to be so distant from Rebekah was odd and not the Matt that Caroline had grown up with.

With a sympathetic look, Caroline tried to put on a smile for her friend, "I'm sure he'll call later."

"Yeah…me too." Rebekah answered before getting up off the bed. "Well I guess we should call it a night."

"You could stay," Caroline almost shouted out, "I mean, like a sleep over."

Rebekah tilted her head in confusion, "Like our beach trip?"

Caroline nodded, "Yep, but with more ice cream, toe nail painting, and girl talk."

"Let me just go get on my PJs." Rebekah squealed running for the door.

Taking this time to also put on her pajamas, Caroline plugging in her laptop and set it on the couch in the room. She when and pulled a few polish colors out of the bathroom, along with a bag of cotton balls.

The blonde vampire was back in a flash and jumped into the large bed, hugging one of her pink and white pillows to her chest. The next few hours will filled with laughter, storied from Caroline's high school days, and Rebekah spilling about some of the famous men she had attracted over the centuries.

The next morning the house was buzzing with excitement. Caroline and Rebekah had made a trip to the grocery store before meeting up with Bonnie and Elena.

"I feel like I haven't seen you guys in forever." Caroline hugged her two friends. After New York she became sort of an introvert and had neglected not only her relationship with Nik but also with her two best friends.

Bonnie held on to the blonde for a second longer, "I have missed you, but I am very upset with you," she finished with a stern look.

Caroline's brow furrowed, "Why?"

"You are getting married in less than two months and you haven't been around for me to do my maid of honor duties. You still need a bridal shower, your dress fitting, along with our dresses, and…"

"Okay, okay. I get it, I've been a horrible friend," Caroline laughed. "I promise I will make myself available for any of your MOH needs."

"You better." Bonnie pointed at Caroline with a smirk.

The group turned light hearted after that and they all went in the kitchen to start on dinner. Stefan was expected to come over around four for drinks before supper and there was much to be done.

"So who is this Stefan guy that is coming over?" Elena asked licking chocolate cake batter off of her finger.

Caroline and Rebekah shared a look, wondering how far to go into the story, but with a sigh Rebekah felt it was best to just be honest. "We fell in love back in the twenties, he was a human and Nik didn't want us to be together, so I turned him, which totally backfired. Nik compelled him to forget about us and we left." She looked down at the knife and chopping board she was working at, "I never knew what happened to him, until the three of us had coffee yesterday."

Both Bonnie and Elena looked at their friend with sympathy, "That is horrible, but it has all the makings of an epic love story." Elena sighed.

"Wait, what about Matt?" Bonnie asked checking the roast that had been in the oven for over and hour.

"I don't think that will be going on much longer," Rebekah said with emotion.

As much as she had once loved Stefan and felt she could love him again if given the chance, the few months that she had spent with Matt had been amazing. When things were good, he had given her hope for men everywhere, and made her feel not like a monster, but like a young woman worthy of love.

Before long the girls were handing over the duties in the kitchen to the hired on house staff, courtesy of Rebekah, and going up to the her room to get ready for the evening.

As they were putting the finishing touches on their hair the doorbell rang. Caroline looked at Rebekah, giving her a reassuring smile.

One of the house staff went to answer the door, "Mr. Salvatore, please you are expecting in the study."

Stefan entered the stately home and took in the foyer, as he was lead to Klaus' study. He was nervous, about to meet the more notorious vampire family and the brothers of the very beautiful blonde he had coffee with yesterday.

He was announced and three men in the study stood, all holding crystal tumblers filled with amber liquid in their hands. The one who seemed the youngest had a knowing smirk on his face that made Stefan uncomfortable.

"Mr. Salvatore, a pleasure to meet you," the older of the men said stepping forward and extending his hand, "I'm Elijah."

"Please call me Stefan, and I am honored to be invited into your home."

Klaus snorted into his drink having sat down by the fire.

"Excuse our rudeness," Elijah said sending a glare towards his brother. "My brothers, Kol and Niklaus." He indicated with his hand towards the men while they were introduced. "Can I offer you a drink?"

Then men made small talk and drank for about twenty minutes before it was announced that the ladies were ready for dinner. The entire time, Klaus was quite, not engaging in conversation.

The four men walked across the home to the formal dining room where the women where waiting. When they walked in Elijah went Elena's side, "You have met Caroline and our sister Rebekah, but this is Elena and Bonnie."

Stefan smiled politely and everyone was led to the table. The house staff came and offered everyone wine, and blood for the vampires, along with a soup dish.

"I was very pleased and surprised to meet Caroline and Rebekah yesterday, I wouldn't expect to find such a promenade family in Virginia of all places."

"It seems that we are all from this state, so it is not uncommon to return home every now and again." Rebekah turned to her brothers, "Stefan is from Mystic Falls as well."

"Ah yes, the Salvatore family, mill owners from Mystic Falls. I visited your homestead just last year." Klaus said placing his finger to his lips and smiling to himself.

An awkward silence came over the group and only the sounds of silver ware on china was heard. Elena started to make conversation about back home and the girls quickly found themselves been charmed by the new vampire.

Stefan's eyes kept sliding to Rebekah, he felt so familiar around her, like he had known her before, "I'm sorry Rebekah, but have we met before, I mean before yesterday?"

Kol could not contain himself anymore, "Oh you _know_ each other alright."

Bonnie kicked Kol under the table and everyone but Stefan looked around at each other with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Silence came over the group again and finally finding her resolve, Rebekah dropped her fork, which clattered against the dishes. "I created you."

Caroline gasped and Klaus growled. Stefan still just looked on with confusion.

"We met in Chicago in the twenties and spent almost every night together for over two months. We were in love Stefan, until Niklaus felt it was time for us to move on," Rebekah sneered her brother's full name. "He _commanded _me to leave you, but I couldn't, so I turned you. After that he compelled you to forget about me, out of anger and jealousy."

Stefan downed the rest of his drink before pausing in thought, "It is a shame that I had to forget a woman like you Rebekah."

"Klaus please." Rebekah turned to her brother, pleading with him to reverse the compulsion and give Stefan back his memory.

Keeping his face blank he answered, "This is not the time for this discussion Rebekah."

"When then? After you rob me of another hundred years of possible happiness, while you go on with your life, getting married and starting a family. It isn't fair Nik!" She yelled across the table at him, standing up and pushing her chair roughly behind her.

"I did it to protect you!" He roared back at her, mimicking her reaction.

"Protecting me from what? Leaving you?"

Finally Caroline decided to step in. She stood and placed her hand on Klaus' arm, "Nik, see reason. There is reason to prolong your sister's suffering and continue with the deception to Stefan."

His face was hard and his eyes burned with angry tears that he refused to let fall. He pulled his arm away from Caroline and stalked towards Stefan, who sat in his chair looking very afraid. Klaus' eyes dilated and he spoke through gritted teeth, "You're free."

Stefan gasped in a breath and Klaus stomped out of the room, not even looking back.

"How about we take dessert in the living room and allow these two to catch up, "Elena said as she stood from her seat and looked around at everyone else's stunned faces.

Kol was still smirking at the juicy drama that had just gone down and as much as he would love to stick around for the after math, Bonnie dragged him out of the room by his ear, "Why must you always stir the pot?" She hissed.

"Funny saying coming from a witch."

Elena, Elijah, and Caroline followed the other two out of the dining room to allow Stefan and Rebekah time to reconnect.

Not feeling much for chocolate cake and coffee, Caroline excused herself from the others and went up to her room to take a long bath and allow Nik to calm down before she would try to talk with him.

As much as he had over reacted, she was thankful that he had released Stefan and was not giving Rebekah a real chance at a happy forever.

After her bath she exhaled and checked her reflection in the mirror one more time, Caroline pulled the clip from the back of her head and let her blonde curls fall over her shoulders.

The sheer yellow nightie that came to her mid-thigh hung off her shoulders with thin satin ribbons. Slipping her robe on she exited the bathroom and headed for the stairs. She was sure that he was still in his study after the events at dinner, since that is where he liked to think, unwind, and drink.

Taking the steps slowly, she shivered as her bare feet came in contact with the cold marble floor of the main level of the large home. Tip-toeing across the stone floor, she comes to the large dark oak doors that lead to Nik's study.

Caroline opened the door a few inches, peeking inside the vast room, but seeing that he was not sitting by the fire, or at his desk, she stepped in and closed the doors behind her, turning the old key that rested in the lock. Pausing for a moment she heard music coming form his studio, guessing he must be painting.

Again walking on the balls of her feet, she moved to the doorway that separates the study from the studio, pausing again to calm her nerves and also to watch him paint.

Angry jazz music poured from the speakers around the room as Klaus stood at the center of the room. A canvas drop cloth covered the hardwood floor of the studio and for good reason. Klaus stood with his back to the doorway, his shoulder tight, a large brush clenched in his right hand as red paint dripped from it.

The canvas in front of him was splattered with dark colors, lines of paint were slashed across and Caroline could tell that they were done out of anger. Klaus forcefully pushed his brush into a tub of black, not even bothering to clean the brush before hand, and flung the paint at the canvas, letting out a roar of frustration.

The outburst made Caroline gasp, not expecting the noise and this now caught Klaus' attention. He turned to her, fine tuning all of his senses and now being able to smell her, taste her in the air. Her adrenaline was palpable and in his anger, he craved her.

"Caroline," he stated plainly, turning back to his canvas and throwing a thick black line across the painting.

Taking a few hesitant steps into the room, Caroline started to question her intentions. After a couple deep breaths, she pulled the tie of her robe and let the fabric fall to her feet. She still had not spoken, and this too caught his attention.

Klaus turned again, knowing she had not left the room, but wondering why she had not answered him. His breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of her. The paleness of her skin with the light color of the sheer lace that covered her upper body, and the golden curls that spilled over her shoulders, he was taken back by her beauty.

Caroline reached up and gathered her hair in her hands, pulling it to one side of her neck and twisting it nervously. Seeing him drop the paintbrush into the tub of pigment, she knew that she had his attention now.

"I know that I haven't been the easiest person to get along with since we returned from New York, and any less of a man would have given up on me long ago…" Klaus went to protest, but Caroline held up her hand so that she could continue, "I know you will never leave me, and I don't want to take advantage of that, so I guess just…thank you for loving me."

Moving across the room he stood in front of her, watching her still playing with the ends of her hair.

"I also know that it took a lot for you to finally give Rebekah a change at happiness." This was spoken just above a whisper.

Finally closing the distance between them, Klaus reached up and placed his hand on her cheek, "How could I deny it when you have given me the same?"

Caroline looked up to meet his gaze, and saw the relief and gratitude in his eyes. It was true she had given him so many chances at happiness, and some of them she felt that he had thrown away. His anger, loathing, and unfamiliar ways with love had almost drove her a way.

A silent conversation was held in their gaze and Caroline knew that this was another turning point in their relationship. He was really beginning to trust her, with everything in his life including his family. Her trust in him was also returning and she hoped that tonight would only strengthen their bond.

Making the first move, Caroline reached up and melded her lips with his. This being the first real passionate kiss since they had returned home, there were so many emotions being conveyed in the simple action.

His longer for her, his love, his devotion, his lust, all poured forth from him into the kiss and Caroline was taken back by the shear force of his desire. Her arms snaked around his shoulders, drawing him nearer but they soon parted for her need for air.

Klaus took the opportunity to trail kisses down her jaw and neck, slightly sucking at the pulse point right behind her ear, earning him a gasp of pleasure. Her breaths were coming in shallow pants now and her need for him was thick in the air. Caroline had waited so long for this connection again and for the life of her couldn't remember why she had.

His arms laced around her back, sliding his open palms down over her rear and gripping the supple flesh there. Lifting her was effortless and she wrapped her legs around his hips as he carried her further into the studio. Moving his lips back to hers he kissed her deeply.

Caroline's mind was reeling as she tangled her fingers in the sandy curls at the base of his head. She felt her foot come in contact with something wet and then heard the large canvas clatter to the floor. Soft laughter came from both of them as Klaus tried to turn to survey the damage.

Paints littered the floor and the unfinished angry painting lay face down. Still chuckling under her breath, Caroline bit her bottom lip and formed a naughty idea. With ease, she unclasped her feet from behind his back and slid down his body, resting her feet on the canvas drop cloth.

The slipped paints felt cold and odd under her feet as colors came out from between her toes. Klaus had turned his attention back to her once she had released herself from his body and watched her with interest.

With a sly smile Caroline reached for the bottom of her nightie and pulled the pale fabric over her head, tossing the garment to the side. She was completely nude underneath and stood in all her glory before him. When he started to move for her she held up her hand in protest.

Klaus looked dejected, as it was shear torture having his beautiful woman, bare to him mere inches away. Before he had a chance to react Caroline was lowering herself to the floor, he went to object but he then thought better of it.

The texture of the paint was like lying down in cold mud but she knew that this would be something that he would enjoy. She was thankful that he was using latex paints today, for getting oil paints out of hair would be troublesome. Nonetheless, she spread her body on the canvas cloth, "Paint me."

His eyes grew large at her meaning. Moving quickly he removed all of his clothes, save for his boxer briefs and picked up the discarded brush from the floor. The colors that were laid out were all dark and that would not do for his Caroline, so he reached for lighter shades of blues and greens, yellows and oranges.

In a playful gesture Caroline dipped her hands in some of the paint by her body and placed two colorful handprints on his chest. This only brought a smirk on his face as he dipped the brush into a vibrant blue.

He traced the lines of her body, starting at the divot at the base of her neck, running the brush between her breasts and to her stomach in a coil pattern ending at her navel. Next he chose a red but then frowned, before adding in white to create a pale pink.

Before touching the brush to her body he ran the lines with his tongue. Starting at her pert nipples he covered each breast with licks and nips of his teeth. He was rewarded with mews from her sweet lips and as he touched the cool paint to her peeks, she sucked in a large gulp of air before releasing a moan as he circled her breasts with the pale color.

His focus continued, tracing green lines down her legs and running his tongue up the inside of her thighs. The spilled paint preventer her from getting a grip on anything and she was not getting the friction she so badly needed.

With one more lap of his tongue up and down her thighs he licked her from opening to nub before sucking on her bundle. Caroline cried out for him in surprise and pleasure. She was wound up so tight that she could feel the coiling inside of her ready to snap at his slightest stimulation.

The brush strokes left a trail of heat on her skin regardless of the cool temperature paint, and as the pigments dried it added a new feeling of pressure and made it seem as if his hands were all over her at the same time. Beyond that he worked at her from between her legs.

Caroline was always amazed at his skill, having had many failed attempts at this act with past boyfriends. He knew exactly how to read her body, how she was going to react and what would push her over the edge.

Just as the thought crossed her mind he sucked hard at her clit and slid a finger into her heat. Arching up off the canvas she didn't care that her hair was riddled with paint, the only thing she could focus on was the pleasure and the man providing it.

He felt her legs clamp around him, smearing paint along his back and side of his rib cage. Removing him self from between her legs he kissed back up her torso, over the dried paint until her reached her lips. She was still trying to catch her breath from the intense orgasm that he had just brought out of her, but she eagerly met his kiss.

When Caroline placed her hands on his chest again he thought she was marking him once more but the pressure she put on him made him sit back on his heels. She sat up as well and pulled at the waistband of his boxers.

Understanding what she was asking, he removed his last article of clothing, thankful that he had kept them on and also kept his manhood out of the paint, he pulled her up on to his lap, the act made easier since her back side was covered in wet paint.

He slid into her with ease, as she was still dripping from the orgasm his mouth had brought forth. This connection is what they both had been missing, what he had been longing for. The most intimate of connections; chest to chest, face to face, bared to each other in the most sacred act of love.

Klaus moved in her as she gasped his name, whispered her love of him and begged him not to stop. His hands, splayed along her back, slid though paint as his fingers drew patterns on her pigment covered skin. He ran his hand though her paint soaked hair, collecting more of his desired medium to display on her creamy skin. He stroked over her breasts and up her arms, placing a handprint over her heart as to claim it.

As Caroline started to feel the coil again she picked up speed, and being a selfish man Klaus wanted to see all of her when she fell over the edge. So with care and speed he laid them back, her still cradled on his lap but him letting her take control of his body.

He used to not like Caroline being on top due to his trust and control issues, but now this is how he preferred to see her. She was like a wild woman when she was this close, bucking and grinding on him looking for that release. She would curse and beg, call his name and he did not think there was a more powerful feeling than when he was with her like this.

So here he was, on the floor of his studio, both of them covered in paint and his beauty was riding him, one breast covered in pink paint, the other speared with blue, the handprint still over her heart.

Getting out of his own mind he focused back on Caroline who was now begging his help in her release. Klaus gripped her hips, helping to guide her movements on him as he flexed his own hips, driving himself deeper into her.

This was the time she started cursing and calling his name, "Fucking hell Nik. Don't stop…for the love of fuck, don't stop."

These endearments always made him smirk.

He drove up into her deeper, held on to her tighter, and pushed her down on him harder until he felt her body quiver. Caroline's mouth hung open and her breathing ceased as her body pulsed. Klaus' trusts became slower and shallower as he allowed her to ride out her pleasure.

After what seemed like a minute, Caroline gasped for air again, having returned to normal functioning as her body regained it facilities. Never again would she wait this long to be intimate with him, her body needed this, and her mind also was reminded of the amazing bond the two shared.

She collapsed on to his chest and tried to bring her breathing back to normal as she smiled in the total bliss that surrounded them. How she had become so lucky as to find a man that completed her in every way, she was unsure.

Klaus carefully pulled out of her and just held her there on the floor. She looked up at him from her place on his chest, "You didn't finish."

Chuckling and kissing her paint covered head he smiled, "No, not this time at least."

Caroline exhaled dramatically and then laughed into his chest, "If I knew this was going to be a marathon I would have canceled dinner."

* * *

**AN: Let me know what you think, perhaps the wedding will be next?**


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